The Boys Named Part Two
by StormyTitan7
Summary: *Under Reconstruction Nov. 25 2013* Obviously part 2 of "The Boys Named". Follows right after. Now the boys are together, and are competing with each other to become better than the other. How are they going to become friends? Rating may change to higher as the chapters mature. R&R please
1. Message

**By Stormytitan**

** A/N: Part two continues right after part one (obviously) MUST READ THE FIRST PART! Seriously, I don't know what I was thinking in separating these into two parts, but here you go. **

**Also, Sano=Logos, Uno=Ormi.**

**New and Improved! Edited: 3-11-2013**

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><p>It wouldn't have taken an idiot very long at all to decide that this new life was far from a delightful or even gratifying alternative from his previous existence in the orphanage. And Sano was no idiot. He was quick enough in his assumption that this mess he had foolishly gotten himself into was going to suck...very much.<p>

Although he was fed properly, he still had many complaints about how 'good' his life was. Was he still abused? Technically no, but if one considered forcing thirteen year olds to run through muddy grounds, hauling a heavy training arm, all the while verbally insulting them in everything from their appearance to their great ancestors, then yes he was a still a very abused child. But that hardly mattered much to him, except for the accompanying pains.

The tight ever-constant pull of hunger slowly diminished, sadly to only be replaced with sore muscles all over his body, aches in places he never in his life thought could hurt, and newly acquired blisters on his feet. His hands grew tougher and more rough, and the squishy useless thing that was his bicep became harder to pinch.

In fleeting moments, he could've been pleased with the results despite the pains he endured to obtain them, however, he found himself surrounded by increasingly more annoying people that banished any thoughts whatsoever of being 'pleased.'

He hated it here. He endured daily interactions with his new-found 'bunk-mates' and the Captains put in charge of overseeing he and the boys' training (that being Captain Hoto himself and Captain Nanbu and all the other men under their command) and it was becoming more than Sano could stand. Indeed, his first impressions of them spoke miles of how much worth he found in each of them.

Uno being the most obvious headache because he was right beside him in most exercises (his fat cumbersome ass only able to keep up with Sano's under developed muscles). He was constantly badgering him, wanting to know details about pointless topics, and clearly thrusting the prospects of friendship onto him. And as Sano continued his training it grew more apparent as to why that was.

Because even though Jac and Groto were cordial to both Sano and Uno (more to the latter than the sour-faced former) they tended to stick to each others side then really associate with Uno. And Itgu, the last boy who rarely spoke to anyone unless it was mean and brought them down, was like Sano in the aspect of wanting nothing to do with 'friends', though for vastly different reasons.

And so Uno tried to be 'buddies', as the oaf sometimes chose to word it, with Sano who was nearest to him due to circumstance and shared his bunk. And even as Sano repeated himself over and over again for him to shut up, to cease bothering him, and to leave him the Hell alone, the buffoon refused to see the fact that his companionship was not wanted nor welcomed.

And if Sano thought for one teensy moment that the others weren't going to prove to be annoying as well, then he was immeasurably wrong.

Hoto, with his tobacco laden breath and slurring oily voice, was still demonstrating his flaws as Captain or even as a solider with his sloth-like manner and general indifference with anything other than reminding Sano of his mistake (which he was starting to see as such unfortunately) in choosing to stay and become an assassin.

Jac, though Sano could hardly see why, had a stiff and mere tolerant attitude towards him. The boy had no problem whatsoever to call him a 'jerk' when he snapped at Uno or Groto, and was more than happy beating him aside during sparring lessons (since this boy came out top of the group in everything they were put to and was proud of it). However, if Sano found himself in an apathetic mood and didn't insult his peers as much as was usual of him, Jac was a bit more respectful towards him. Which, interestingly enough, Sano was more annoyed with because it wasn't consistent and threw him off, putting him in a foul mood.

Groto was annoying in the meek, nervous, constantly flinching way which Sano was more than sure to be a bad trait to have in a solider, much less a dangerous assassin. He constantly apologized as well, even when it was Sano that was insulting him, and often times then not, looked on the verge of tears during training. Jac took pity on him and babied him, protecting him from Sano and Itgu who barked at him when he was in the way. He was also unmistakably friendly to all within proximity of him, and like it was with Uno, Sano found it to be an undesirable feature to his current situation.

Itgu was annoying in a far different way from the rest, as mentioned briefly before. It was a pity, Sano thought, that he hadn't got a proper first impression of Itgu until later, or he would've avoided him much faster and with more ease. It was only late into the first training day that he was able to see Itgu for what he really was. As soon as Uno and Sano (still bickering about earlier arguments) had crashed through the metal door of the barracks, Itgu had found it fine time to show his true colors to him.

_Itgu sniffed obscenely when they had passed by his bed, and smirked when Sano grimaced in the direction of the nasty sound his throat and nose had created together. He smirked again, clearly pleased to have the pinch-faced boy's attention, and asked in a clearly faking casual tone, "So chum, what did Captain Nanbu have you two girls do for being last in the run?"_

"_Nothing," Sano glared narrow-eyed, judging the boy to be arrogant based on appearances, which was confirmed by his next words._

_"That run was nothing," Itgu leaned back, an overconfident sneer spreading over his lips, "And everything else too. It's just too bad you and Mydo wouldn't know much about that since it took forever for you guys to finish. You might've done the other exercises with the rest of us if you had." His pale gray eyes met Sano's dusky ones then shot across the room to meet Uno's near pupiless-black orbs mockingly, before finishing with a chuckle, "Not that you two would've had an easy time with any of that. Sit-ups and push-ups might've been too much for the new guy- and Mydo never could do them in the first place!"_

_Uno's head, after initially meeting Itgu's eyes, had been looking down and fumbling with his night shirt, but it pulled up suddenly to shout back, "Shud up, Itgu!"_

_"Psshh!" Itgu laughed through his even wider grin, meeting Sano's burning eye-slits with malicious mirth in his own, "Not my fault that you, once again Fatty, couldn't finish the exercise with the rest of us. But, it looks like you'll finally have a friend now…"_

_Itgu had said the last sentence in a lowered and bubbly voice, his eyes still locked in a staring contest with Sano, and his chin tilting away in mock innocence. _

_Uno took a step forward, his face twisted in something of a grimace, "What's __**that **__suppose ta' mean?!"_

_"Oh, shut up yourself," Sano shook his head at Uno, finally breaking eye contact with Itgu and deciding him a nuisance to be easily ignored, before he took three long strides and promptly lifted himself into the bunk above Uno's, adding in his low drawling tone, "Don't fuel his fire. It will only aggravate you more, Idiot."_

_"Humph!" Uno rolled his eyes and all but threw himself into his creaking bunk with a metallic screech escaping from his bed-springs. He rolled his considerable mass over again, his back away from Itgu, and grumbled to the space above him, "Like I'd listen to youse." Before his mumbling lowered to incoherent strings of syllables that only grew loud enough for phrases like '-calling me's an idiot all the time-' and '-yeesh, what a jerk-' _

_When Uno's rambling died and Itgu finally kicked the light switch to shut the lights down (Captain Hoto was to see them turn the lights out but was unsurprisingly absent in his duty), a meek voice broke through the semi-darkness. _

_"Hey," Groto lifted his body gently and leaned over the edge of his bunk to look at both of them with a friendly smile, "I heard you guys did extra laps, s'at right?"_

_"Yeah," Sano bent his elbows behind his head and cupped his neck, his moody frown still slapped over his lips "So what of it?"_

_"Nothing," Groto shook his head, clearly backing out of his earlier plan to break the tension with a few kinds words, "I didn't mean anything by it."_

_"Bunch of show-offs."_

_"Rekis, that ain't nice!" Groto gasped at the growled remark that had flitted up on a high-pitched tone from underneath him. He offered an apologetic nearly glowing green-eyed stare across the bunk row to both Sano and Uno and whispered to Jac laying below him. "I don't think that's why they did it!"_

_"Whatever," Jac shifted and put his hand on top of his light-orangey shaved head. "They still did it. Probably want to suck up to the Captains for their inability, is that right?" Dark reddish brown eyes defiantly met the boys' eyes from across the space._

_"What's your problem?" Uno frowned lightly and turned heavily on his back to spare having to look over his fatty shoulder, "What'd we do to youse?"_

_"Why does Captain Nanbu and Captain Hoto like you so much, huh?" Jac flipped over to look at him as well, only with a much more fast and deliberate movement before he took a swipe under his nose with a band-aid padded thumb, "I heard them talking about you two. 'really hope they make it', 'they don't seem to be doing so well, are they?' 'oh, I'm sure they'll surprise us by the end-' It's stupid! I run like I'm supposed to, do as I'm told, and what? You guys end up the favorite because you're the bottom of the class?"_

_"I's don't know what youse talking about," Uno crossed his arms and puffed out his cheeks, "But I's didn't do anything wrong!"_

_"Except suck," Itgu's snide voie sniggered from the other row. _

_"Shut up!" Sano hissed back._

_Jac rolled over stiffly and shook his head against his pillow, declaring, "I work twice as hard as anyone here!"_

_"You can't say that," Uno jutted out his bottom lip, "I work hard's too, ya know?"_

_"No, I work twice as hard," Jac closed his eyes, "I know I do."_

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><p>The group could only be called disastrous when Captain Nanbu took them through leadership and teamwork exercises, and the Captain grew more worried about how to pair them up when no one on the same level of ability seemed to get along. But for the most part, Sano didn't worry a bit about his future partner, whatever unfortunate fellow beside him would become that, or even if he would have a partner to suit his sour personality. For all he cared, and figured, he'd be the first to break tradition and go it solo.<p>

Once again, when the fifth morning came of his training days, the young teenage group moved far ahead of him on their way to breakfast. Unfortunately, the Black Mage named Kodai woke them up this morning (bleary-eyed and exceptionally early) instead of the lazy Hoto. It actually was the first harsh 'army' experience Sano had besides the training itself.

While they quickly dressed, Uno pointed out that Kodai was the least fun to have around. Kodai then silenced him with a hiss to prove his point and barked for them to hurry up. Kodai, Sano determined, was a man of very few words, and even fewer smiles. His angry attitude made even Captain Hoto's scowl seem friendly. When he spoke at all it was in curt three-word commands. If he spoke a sentence, it wasn't a good thing and usually meant that whoever he addressed had made him as infuriated as is possible.

Through carefully placed whispers, Uno informed Sano that Kodai was under Hoto's command, and more likely than not, finally became fed up with how the Captain was lax in his duties and decided to pick up the slack. Sano scoffed. It would figure...

As Sano paced himself behind, not wanting to accidentally catch up with the idiotic chatterboxes as he had done a couple of times before, he took in the strange sight of the dawn. Due to the early rise from the Black Mage, Sano was looking at the hint of sun peeking just over the horizon, stretched far away from the city. Sano found himself looking out towards the direction of the ocean, a blanket of night still hovering over the cold churning waves past the winding streets of Bevelle. The base was built on the upper districts, close to the Temple, and so he could see all the city tumbling away from the center below him. It made him think of the view from the barred window of the orphanage above his bed. Except, he now stood where the view ended, and could see what structures tumbled downhill from him in all directions. He easily found the crappy district where the orphanage was located, pushed far from him and his safe spot.

Sano sighed. Was freedom supposed to feel this damn sad?

He didn't miss the orphanage, Yevon no, but he could feel this dragging empty sensation in his chest still. Like he was received half of a great thing, and was sorely disappointed with the half he got. He should be glad, he told himself, that he could walk and finally look down at the things that he wished to escape, but he didn't. The feeling of freedom he felt while running away didn't return to him, and was moving farther away from him each second.

It's only because Yagi is dead.

He pushed on from where he had stopped in his tracks, his head bent low._ I should still feel glad_ he told himself again, _I get to breathe the_ _cool northern air and see the purplish inky sky give way to grayish light of a imminent sunrise on the horizon_. _I should like that, and all of this, even if Yagi can't anymore. But, I don't, and I don't care. Why am I still here? Where would I go if I wasn't here? Does it matter? I want to stop feeling terrible...I don't know how._

The birds that nearly always greeted him were fewer in number and only rustled in the trees, waiting for the warmth of the coming sun. He was still sore and achy as he always was, and relatively tired from the different wake-up call, but more than that his entire posture was pulled suddenly down. Sano's frown deepened and remain there as he pushed his way into the mess hall.

Without a word, he sat in his usual spot next to Uno, the other somehow sensing his worse than average mood and remaining thankfully silent, and Sano reached for the middle basket of bread (warm this time since he got there early). He bit into it, chewing mindlessly and only dimly thought once that he might reach out to Mia (since no matter what he failed to do he missed her) and find his ever elusive and mysterious father. Just to fill the emptiness of his time.

"Hey," Uno tapped his arm, interrupting his thoughts. Now that there was less kids, or maybe now that all of the formality was over, they ate with the trained soldiers. And since they had awoken on the actual acceptable time, they were crammed in with the great bulk of the breakfasters. Crowded as it was, Sano bumped into a Yevon Defender's arm and received a scornful grunt and a glare. Glaring back, Sano ignored the tap from Uno and went on eating.

Uno, not at all disheartened by Sano's ignoring him, pointed upward, "It's Bas-."

"AH!" Sano flinched as he felt icy claws on his shoulder, coincidentally belonging to a clammy hand that pressed into the hollows of his shoulder until it was right up against his neck, seemingly siphoning the heat from his entire body.

"Hello~!" Bask smiled and uncurled his bony fingers from his body, bringing them back to his emaciated self instead when Sano's head whirled around to face the ghost of a man that had grabbed him. "What's going on, Trenraka-boy?"

"Ugh," Sano winced at the feeling that laid against his neck still and turned away, his thin hand slapping against his jugular to bring human warmth back into it, "What do you want?"

"I have something for you," Bask announced happily and reached behind his leather-wrapped outfit to joyfully bring out a brown-paper wrapped package, "Just for you."

He spared a glance at it over his shoulder before scowling at it and the dark shades over the man's eyes, "I don't want it." He spat forcefully in response.

"It's not from me," Bask informed in a sudden low tone and simply let it fall from his white hands and roughly onto the table, where it made the objects and trays rattle as it hit the top with a loud thud. Everyone stopped eating and turned to him, in silence, as they subtly questioned the disturbance with squinted eyes and raised brows. Bask remained un-fazed and, for another moment, uncharacteristically serious, "It's from your sister, boy."

"My sister?" Sano's head perked and he swallowed in the still quiet, suddenly missing the typical clamor, as his tone was noticeably different and a lot lighter as he said those two words. His thin slanted eyes drifted back to the table and at the white tag that was taped to the top of the parcel. _**Mialyn Trenraka**_- in beautiful, thick, and long flowing handwriting that only could've come from his sister's confident and graceful hand. He sniffed in and grabbed the box, placing it under his arm. "Erm…T-thank you, I suppose…"

"Not my doing," Bask flicked his shades back up his face and turned, his long white hair swishing slightly. "Thank Captain Hoto by any means."

Sano's fingers were tingling, the warmth of the package from either his imagination or some source that had held the delivery before the skeletal and cold man touched it radiated into his fingertips and he felt happiness, true and bursting from his chest, for the first time in a terribly long time. He couldn't keep his face in it's characteristic downward plunge as it twitched and gradually glowed into an awkward and unaccustomed smile.

Sano stood and left, the package under his arm.

"Where are youse going?" Uno called, too late, as the two metal door slammed and the conversations picked up around him again. "What was that about- huh?" Uno turned to look at Bask and only met ceiling with his eyes as the Alchemist and his Cheshire-grin were gone.

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><p><em>Dear Sano, <em>

_How can I possibly begin to say how sorry I am? This happened to you because of me. I didn't watch you or Yagi close enough after Mom died. I'm afraid you've suffered far more than you ever should've. Maybe you hate me. - How have you been? I know that sounds stupid now, doesn't it? After all this time but, Oh Yevon, I want to see you again. I heard about Yagi-that's when I found out what happened to you two. I looked for you for a really long time. I want you to know that. Yagi must've somehow got past the people Ayro paid, as he put that all his personal effects were to be sent to me when he - passed. Ayro tried to hide the package when it arrived but, fortunately, I stopped him in time and learned the truth. But I still couldn't find you and Ayro refused to tell me where he hid you. I'm sorry, Sano. I looked for you in the nearby orphanages but I couldn't find you anywhere. It was only when Captain Hoto sent a letter to me yesterday that I knew what became of you. It made me so happy and yet very sad. He says you can't see me. You probably don't want to see me anyways. But I'm so happy you're alive. _

_If you can forgive me, I'll visit you soon. Just let me know. Ayro is gone, so don't worry about that. When and if you come back I'll be where we always lived. _

_Love, _

_Sister._

_P.S. Yagi's stuff is in the package. I'm sorry, I hope it comes to help you, maybe, deal with what's happened. I can't bear to look at it anymore._

He wiped his eyes. It was short but it was all he needed. Mia didn't know what to say, he saw that plainly in in the dried tear drops that had smeared some of the blue pen on the paper and the many short dashes, made by her hesitation, trying to find the right words.

But, she missed him, she cared...

And Ayro was gone.

"I forgive you. I want to come back." Sano nodded and choked lightly on the tears coming up. He wiped quickly at his eyes and sniffed loudly, the fact he was a boy forbidding him to cry over his sister's letter.

His hand dove into the box instead to distract him and it came up with two bits of paper clenched in his fist. The first scrap had Blitzball scores on it from Yagi's favorite team and from the way it was folded many times, had probably been in his pocket. His hand writing had been jotted over the other team's names with calculations and probabilities for championships and player's abilities. Sano looked at it sadly, the championship his brother was predicting for was played almost half a year ago.

The second paper was folded too, though only once and the piece was considerably smaller. It was white, and obviously something more personal than a magazine clipping. Sano, not at all feeling comfortable in opening it yet, put it on his lap and left it there as his hand dipped into the package again.

His hand returned with a black shirt and pants, the funeral clothes that Yagi wore. He held it to his face and sniffed in, his entire face hurting from the tears he still bid himself to hold back. It still smelled like his brother, like sweat and water mixed together, and Sano felt a deep wish for the past again like he felt in the worst times in the orphanage.

He folded the nice cloth twice over his knee and squared his shoulders with another sniff to make another venture into the contents of the box.

"So, how'd you get your hands on that package?"

Sano jumped and his head whipped around to see Captain Hoto leaning into a light pole, a cancer stick dangling from his lips and wiggling with his words as he asked, "Well? I carried it with me this whole morning and I put it in my office for no more than five minutes and it was gone just like that."

"Bask gave it to me, sir…" Sano said cautiously, his head lowering into his shoulders. They were off base now, in the city of Bevelle. Sano had slipped away right after leaving the mess hall, wanting complete privacy when he read the letter and opened the package, but he wasn't entirely sure if he was allowed. Technically, he knew he wasn't when he was expected for role call soon, but he hadn't exactly meant to get caught off the grounds anyways.

Hoto's oily voice followed his thin black brow rising, "You do know that it is training right now, don't you boy?"

Captain Hoto smoked casually behind him and blew smoke rings into the air as Sano shifted the box on his lap and carefully thought, his mind on many topics that had nothing to do with training.

"W-were you here the entire time?" Sano croaked after the man said nothing more.

Hoto nodded, "Yeah. More or less. Bask is an idiot, don't let what he said get to you or anything. He's a nut, and he doesn't know what he's talking about-"

"Why did you send the letter?" Sano watched as the man's eyes widened.

"What are you talking about? I sent nothing. Whatever Bask told you it is a lie," Hoto took a drag of his cigarette and looked absently to the side.

"You're a liar," Sano held up Mia's letter, and waved it for emphasis. His eyes narrowed into slits and he spat, "My sister said you sent her a letter."

Hoto sighed, slowly blinked and then sighed again as he resigned himself to tell the truth, "I found it a bit suspicious when you said you had no relations," Hoto inhaled, and let the smoke spill from his lips as he continued, "Then go turn around and say you're Yagi's brother. Uhm, and uh…Yagi had a sibling that he talked about all the time so, I figured you wanted to get to her too…right? That's what you said the first day, or something along those lines, I think. I don't know, I wasn't entirely listening to your sob story."

"Hnn," Sano sneered and turned to look almost distantly at the half emptied box with Yagi's things. A wave of loneliness and regret coursed through him as he thought of his recently lost brother. He was so full of life, and now he was gone. Just like that.

It was official, since Mia had his personal effects and everything, but Sano could do little more than stare stupidly at the box.

A hoarse smoker's-cough jerked Sano's eyes to the side as Hoto bent down on creaking knees, his fist pounding his chest under his quivering cigarette clamped in his teeth. The Captain peered at the things in Sano's lap before the last shaking of the spasm ebbed and he spoke with a twitch in his white stick poised in his lips, "You know…if you want to pretend to have a cold to have a free day, I won't mind. This one time!" He added hastily, "But, ah uhm, You just get back to base before light's out, and…" His voice suddenly lowered, "Just don't go see your sister yet. You'll have time for that later, I -erm, promise. If you do something stupid now, you may never get the chance to see her again, understand?"

"Wha-?" Sano blinked, his face tight in a constricted frown, "I don't understa-."

"I find a good walk can clear your head. A…friend of mine used to enjoy walks." When Sano gave him an incredulous look, Hoto shrugged lightly and took his cigarette from his mouth to tap it free of the ashes, "Hey, everyone needs a break."

"I just started training-" Sano began to argue.

"What kid wants to fight about not only a chance to play hooky, but a Captain-approved hooky?" Hoto popped the butt back into his mouth and gruffly asked, "Do you want the break or not?"

"Forgive me, but I'm just suspicious as to why you'd allow me this pleasure." Sano was steadfast in his doubt. In full truth, he suspected that if he took the offer, then the Captain would hold it against him later as an excuse to put him to some horrendous task or as blackmail.

"Do you think that my only purpose in Bevelle is to make your life miserable?" Hoto smirked a bit and pushed the cigarette to the corner of his sharp lips, "You think that I just sit in my office, shirking off my duties, to plot ways in which to torment you? Honestly, boy, as much fun as it is to tease you, do you think I'd really put that much work into something?"

Sano willed himself not to show any signs of having found that last bit funny (since it was surely partially true he realized) and his face stayed stony though his brows raised a little.

"I'm only offering it because it's true, everyone needs a break," Hoto raised his hand against Sano's opening mouth, before letting his hand fall to his side, "Not just from training, but from life. A lot has happened to you, hasn't it?"

Something that could've been pity passed through his inverted eyes, though to Sano it seemed a little more sadder than that, but it disappeared quickly as Hoto stood up, his knees cracking loudly. The Captain winced noticeably, muttering "Oh, ow," Before he flicked his cigarette away from him and droned, "Be back by bunk time, don't leave Bevelle, and try and not do anything illegal or get caught doing it in any case, alright cadet?"

"Alright," Sano offered a smile towards the Captain for the first time, and only because his back was turned away from him, and nodded as he stood up, the package still in hand. He saluted with his opposite hand, softly stating, "Yes sir."

"Uhn," Hoto shrugged, without looking, before walking away down the alleyway, leaving him with the open package alone.

He sat back down and rustled through the rest of it: Silver glasses, random snap shots of Yagi with army men and a few un-sent letters to their old home. Sano clutched the silver glasses, finding them odd since Yagi had good eyesight as he remembered, before looking into the faces of the pictures more carefully and seeing a half-familiar face staring back at him.

Silver circles framed Yagi's down slanted eyes, making him more intelligent looking and less playful than Sano remembered. His wild hair was well combed down to the sides of his head, and Yagi clutched a helmet in his crooked elbow as he stood straight in uniform and armor.

So Yagi needed glasses? Sano held the pair for a second longer, then lifted them and squinted his own eyes through them, then blinked and winced. He must've had horrendous eyesight!

He placed them gently back into the box and flipped through the pictures more thoroughly. Men that Sano didn't know surrounded his brother, smiling, laughing, or an arm around his shoulder. Sano felt so alien from the people that Yagi stood amongst like he belonged. He reasoned that Yagi had to have lived some life beside searching for his poor starving brother, but Sano was saddened by the snapshots nonetheless.

He tossed them into the box, his scowl deep on his face. His hands touched the letters, but he tossed them after the pictures, suddenly feeling like he didn't want to know what his dead brother's words home were.

'_-I'm looking real hard for Sano, but still keeping track of my Blitzball scores-'_

'_-I'm making lots of new friends and having loads of fun, but still no clue about Sano-…'_

Sano's face darkened as he thought of more potential words were scrawled in the folded paper before his cheeks suddenly flushed pink as he shamefully remembered his brother was dead and it was disrespectful to think of the brother he had admittedly loved and waited for years on in this way.

He picked up the black clothes from his knee and the second folded piece of paper that was with the Blitzball scores suddenly fluttered down to the ground as he stood with the funeral attire. He slanted eyes followed it until it's one crease opened up a little and showed red ink across the inner surface.

_Home for Unfortu-_

Sano snatched it up hurriedly, and with a beating heart, pulled it apart with a crinkle of the surface rubbing against his hands and nearly tearing in the middle in his excitement. His eyes dashed over the red ink and he clutched it tighter, his hands shaking.

_Home for Unfortunate Ones. __**Sano**_

It had the name of the old orphanage on it and underlined many times and heavily was his own name.

Was Yagi going to get him soon? Rescue him on his next leave? Or would he screw the leave and get him anyways, after he came back to Bevelle from fighting Sin?

Some how it didn't matter, he held the scrap to his chest as he bent over his knees. His chest was light, not heavy like he expected and a smile spread over his mouth as he thought about his most annoying elder sibling he ever had. Everything was forgiven and somehow he felt the memory of his brother was lighter for it too.

A leather pouch was also in the package but it didn't have anything in it.

He shoved all he could into the pouch. His brother's letters, photos, glasses, and finally the three scraps of paper, one with in his father's handwriting from his own pocket and two in his brother's from the package.

Then he placed the letter from his sister on top. She was still alive. He still had a family waiting for him. And that mattered above all importance and thus held the highest point of honor and care.

He attached the pouch to his belt and pulled it to his side. He looked down at the black clothes that sat on the stone ground, looking just his size now that he was as old as Yagi was when they were taken. He took off his training shirt and yanked the black cloth over his bony shoulders. It was baggy. Apparently, Yagi was bigger then he was back then.

He tied off the midsection and shoved the funeral pants and training shirt into the pouch, rolling it up first so it could fit.

Sano took one more look at the box but found no return address on it. All the same, Mia promised to be back home in the Moonflow. Sano sighed in something that felt like relief, and turned on his heel to simply walk, anywhere, taking Hoto's suggestion in mind.

A content and calm patience came with the hope of being reunited with his sister. He had been waiting for the chance to see Mia for so long, before he was scared about seeing her, and now, it was falling so easily into his hands without much effort from him. Really funny, since it came only in the moment when he was afraid to face her. That fear was gone now, and the emptiness that he had been suffering with in the early morning was quickly forgotten.

It felt odd. Surprisingly, he wasn't bearing an ounce of anxiousness or impatience. Suddenly, 'soon' wasn't so long of a wait at all.

He didn't leave Bevelle, just like Captain Hoto ordered, but he made circles in the city, aimlessly strolling wherever his feet led him. His head swiveled, slanted eyes observing daily life with honest interest for once.

If walking to the mess hall was a sweet taste of freedom that he was deprived of in the orphanage, then the sensation of walking about Bevelle was a far more wholesome flavor. The red decorated walls seemingly got closer to him and the fountains sparkled. He always looked at the city with a bit of contempt, but it seemed nicer than it was before in this new light.

It was a good city. For the first time in his life, he thought so.

Sano took care to bring little attention to himself, though very little acknowledged him anyways. It wasn't a strange thing for cadets to be sent on errands for the Captains or kitchens, on deliveries or to fetch things, so having a young boy in military pants walking around hardly mattered. Sano took time in exploring the city, never once being able to learn where shops were, what roads lead to where, or what buildings looked like beyond the walls before, when he was trapped behind a crooked chain-link fence belonging to the orphanage.

And besides the mad-dash to the Temple and then being escorted to the base, he had never seen the unknown parts of Bevelle and never had this much time on his hands to simply look.

As the morning matured, the volume of traffic swelled. Away from the religious district holding the Temple and base nearby, shops lined the colorful reddish streets and carts and swearing could be heard as people weaved their way through the city. Sano sidestepped them and made sure to watch his toes.

Bevelle was one of the most prosperous cities in Spira for a reason, and Sano derived that it was because of Bevelle's enormous appetite for rich goods that allowed it to be this way. Bolts of brightly colored silk and other tightly woven material, flawless craftsmanship reflected through silver plate ware and crystal glass, and quality food products all winked in-between the bodies of well-dressed people and beggars alike.

Sano eyed different goods displayed across the different stands and shops, secretly weighing his gil-purse (which he had originally stolen from the orphanage with a whole 20 gil within), as he hungrily took in all the most interesting merchandise.

He had been indifferent for a great many things before this point, material-wealth only earning his disdain and jealousy all at once, and though there was hardly anything he could afford in Bevelle, he managed to indulge himself and purchase a few things.

He bought cheap cigarettes and an old lighter from an old uncaring looking man behind a rickety stand that didn't even bother asking how old he was (not that it mattered). Then, while enjoying the ebbing of his cravings as he puffed on the cigarette in a secluded alleyway, he peered out to watch the people going by. He was weighing the purse in his hand again, thinking deeply over his 13 gil left, and contemplating whether or not to buy Mia a gift as well when his stomach rumbled.

The sun had already passed mid-point by a couple of hours when Sano felt the complaint of his stomach demanding food. He had wandered a long time in the market district, and when he wanted a bit of peace to smoke he had slunked out of the busy area. Sano stepped out of the alley and looked around for a place of cheap food, finding it quickly (in fact several choices) as he went two blocks down to a line of stands selling low-priced and some questionable food.

Finding the cleanest looking stand and person running it, Sano bought himself a pasty from the vendor wearing a loose robe, far too big for his scrawny shoulders, and a tilted cap on his head. Sano, while biting into his snack and putting away his meager coin purse, looked around the street again. Unlike the first set of streets he had journeyed into, these were rougher and duller in both paint and care.

Clearly, he had stepped out of the inner circle of Bevelle a while ago and into the back and more modest part of the city. He, for a moment, grew nervous knowing that it was in this part that the orphanage was located somewhere. But, then he relaxed, comforted by the fact that he was owned by the army now and that he smelled the strong scent of the sea in the air (telling him that he was far from where the orphanage was located yet).

But, he had heard enough stories to know that the most crime in Bevelle (though indeed there was very little) always occurred by the docks and the surrounding neighborhoods. Sano swallowed down the rest of his pasty and kicked off the ground toward the Temple district that rose in superiority on the horizon.

To prove his point that this wasn't a nice place to be, a set of dice-players in the corner started to quarrel violently over a bargain made. Sano picked up his pace, his head ducked down to avoiding the tossed bottles, minding his own business, and didn't stop his half-trot until he couldn't hear the bickering anymore. He sighed in relief, knowing he was edging back towards the market district again.

The sun started to set lower in the sky as Sano finally set foot under an arch that was the market-district's border. It was nearing afternoon and he confidently made his way toward the Temple that led the way.

A bit reluctant to admit, Sano found that the walk had lifted a lot of weight from him. His heart strangely didn't feel constricted anymore, instead, almost happy, and that his mind was cleared of a lot of cobwebs. Walking was good for him and he decided that he'd do it often when he got back to Mia in the Moonflow.

The market place was generally empty as he strolled right on through it, and soon he was the only one on the street at all as dinner time neared. Most stores had already closed, and families already swept back into homes to eat. Sano felt his stomach pull a little, the snack having apparently done nothing as his appetite was already used to hearty army food, and picked up his pace again to make it back for the last meal. He reminded himself to speak in an even more nasally voice when he arrived so that he would be convincing in having been sick the entire day.

"Hey kiddo," A groggy voice spooked him, halting his steps with a screech, and pulled him from his thoughts on how people with recovering colds should act. The form that had spoken slipped out of an alley and right behind Sano's vulnerable back.

Sano spun around, holding his arms defensively, as he recognized the voice and didn't want his back exposed to him at any time. The voice couldn't be mistaken. It had only haunted his last memory of his Moonflow home for years.

Sano all but snarled as he glared at the face that confirmed his assumption, "Aryo."

Mia's former husband replied in a similar growl, "Sano."

"What do you want?" Sano clenched his fists and pressed his elbows tight against his body. He stood taller as something in his chest contracted but he swallowed it down. His thin brows pushed down into his eyes, making them nothing more than slanted slits, and a deepest scowl on his shapely lips.

If the man made a move toward him, he would yell something that would get people's attention…maybe call rape, pedophile, or something. If Yagi, who was so much stronger than him, couldn't take the man back then, like hell he could, without any help anyways. Sano slightly shifted his weight to stand on the balls of his feet, ready to run out of the man's grasp, just in case.

Ayro looked up and down the street, no one there so late in the day, before his eyes rested back on the boy, "I haven't seen you in a long time. The caretakers told me you decided that your…lodgings (more like 'prison' Sano thought) were inadequate and that you ran away with the army. Interesting choice." Aryo commented dully, "How is that treating you?"

"Splendidly." Sano acidly spat.

Aryo looked Sano up and down, observing the old funeral clothes that belonged to his older brother and the baggy military pants, before looking down the street again, his voice sickeningly friendly as he asked, "Thinking about going to see your sister, eh?"

"How'd you find me?" Sano felt himself backing up, unexpected and involuntarily, as Aryo's face cracked open in unnerving smile.

The man himself couldn't be called frightening, but it was this man that had personally placed him in Hell's arms for five years. Years he had just recently and narrowly escaped. And though Aryo single-handedly owned and deserved most of Sano's loathing, a tinge of fear bred from that hallway so long ago was surfacing now.

"Easy, I'm not going to hurt you, kiddo. Have I really ever? And to answer your question, it was simple," Ayro smirked, "All I did was follow the address on the package Mia sent and waited. I saw some old friends of mine while I was here too. That's when I heard what really happened to you. I was surprised to hear that you joined the army, but I guess that didn't last long since you're here, running away."

"I'm not," Sano took another step back as the man took one forward. "Look, I know you're not going to do anything to me. Mia doesn't have a thing to do with you anymore."

Sano hoped, no prayed, that his voice did not falter. To solidify the fact that he was not afraid, he spoke again, his voice growing in strength as he said, "I'm _not _what you remembered. I'm a lot stronger now and I have nothing to fear from you anymore either."

Ayro lifted a reddish brown brow, "Oh?"

Sano's head lowered as Ayro took a quick step forward and swiped him up from the street in one fist gripping his black shirt front. "Funny thing-" Aryo growled, "-You still ought to be, brat."

"Let go of me!" Sano kicked the air and met the man's middle, forcing a small grunt from his lips, before finding that the heated hands tightened around his shirt. He choked him with a quick jerk in his arm, slamming Sano's throat into his own shirt collar, followed by a sudden slap across his narrow face.

"Shut it," Aryo rumbled. Sano took a new gasp of air, and said nothing else, though his mind raced for the most foulest of insults. In his momentary silence, Aryo started slowly, "You know…I always thought you were a brat. Always whining for your mother or your older siblings. You just couldn't behave in the orphanage either. You never learned to handle being without. You couldn't be gracious for what you had. You always had to complain and get your way, isn't that right?"

"W-what is it you want from me?" Sano sputtered over his oxygen-lacking words. His eyes were shining with hate, but that speck of fear could still be seen behind them. And Ayro acknowledged it with a sneering grin.

"What do _I _want? I want to have both boys I put away to have stayed put and silent. But, no, you two had to cause so much trouble, what with your several attempts at escape, and Yagi trying to communicate with Mia. Though, " Aryo stopped thoughtfully, "At least Yagi did me the favor of dying so I wouldn't have to pay a few guardsmen anymore." Aryo's grin grew in size as Sano's eyes narrowed, hurt, and angry still, "But, we can't always have what we want, can we, Sano? So, I suppose I can adjust my plans a bit. See, I want to get in Mia's good gracious again, and by returning you to her, and my repentance, I think I can still get that."

"What-" Sano coughed, kicking at the air to try and lift his throat off of his shirt collar, "What in this whole wide Spira makes you think I'll help you in any way?"

"You'll have little choice," Aryo threatened darkly, "Not unless you want to be put right back in that orphanage. And I doubt you'll be running away again after the beating they'll give ya. In fact, I doubt you'll be running much of anywhere, ever again."

"P-put me down-you-you. " Sano started to thrash in his grasp, his feet already scraping the ground in his mad shuffle to escape and run away back to base. There, the army would certainly enforce his staying.

"You little friendless pest." Aryo hissed low, "You may have ran away from the orphanage, and you may try to run from the army…But, you're not running from me."

"Who's running from the army?" Sano glared hard, every nerve in his body tingling with hot loathing. Chances of escape was limited and narrowing, yet he could not surrender or quail back. Sano could only harshly spit out each of his words, "I'm under orders to not leave Bevelle. And I'm following through with it. The training, the duties, the demands-everything." His mind raced to find something to slice at Aryo with before finding the perfect thing and his eyes narrowed spitefully, "Unlike you, Ayro, I find I can handle it."

That earned another sharp slap across the face. Apparently, the man didn't like to be reminded of any shortcomings.

Aryo's face was bright red with anger under the orangey light of the setting sun. Sano felt his feet plant into the ground again, but was unable to yank himself away as Aryo raised his other fist into the air, screaming, "You son of a-!"

"Raaaaaaaaa!" Sano's eyes widened as a yell, though not from his own throat, roared from the side of them . A large bulky something crashed into Aryo's legs and toppled him over to the ground, his fingers wrenched loose from the shirt with a painful jerk. Sano gagged for breath, standing on slightly bent knees, his eyes darting over Uno as he crushed Aryo's lower body with his weight.

Seconds later, two more bodies appeared behind Uno, Groto and Itgu flinging themselves down on the arms of the man that was beating Uno's back, while Jac stepped beside Sano, arms heavy with groceries.

Cans were scattered along the sidewalk from Uno's ripped grocery bag. Groto's had simply fallen to the ground and heavily slumped over, spilling the dry packets of spices and hardy herbs. Sano stared at the paper bags, before staring at the caretakers of them and understanding. They were on errands for the kitchens, and heard him. And, inexplicably, chose to save him.

Groto looked over at Sano, face twitching slightly, "A-are you okay, Sano?"

"Yeah fine," Despite himself, he blinked his wide eyes, showing his surprise, and let out a shuddering sigh.

Uno ended up pinning the man down by his legs and hauled himself up to a sitting position. Pulling back a fist, the robust youth hollered, "Youse keep still or I'm bustin' your's nose!"

Ayro put his hands beside his head, seeing the threat in the meaty fist, before his sharp eyes darted around for an escape. There seemed to be none as shadowy children's faces loomed above him, eyes reflecting the lowering sun's face and glowing with it. Sano still stood his distance, his face catching a different effect from the sun's rays as his chin was held high.

A feeling had welled upward and caught above his collar bone. Sano weakly smiled, adrenaline falling at the sight of Uno frowning down Aryo's glares. A spark of pride, which would later ignite into friendship, surged throughout his veins and warmed him in a way he hadn't felt in a long time.

"Aw, let him go. He isn't going to do anything now." Jac sneered down at the adult for emphasis in his next statement, "He won't be stupid enough to try and take us all on."

Uno's eyes were still locked in a glaring contest with the man pinned down. The silence Jac had interrupted stretched on without care to what the boy said. Sano shifted, and spoke up again, "You might as well, Uno. You're not honestly planning on staying here all night, pinning him down, are you?"

The boys watched Uno take one last long and mean look at Ayro before slowly rising up. Aryo laid a few more moments on his back, before shaking his head and his features pressed into an infuriated and purposeful expression. He jumped and knocked the first boy he could reach aside, that being the rail-like body of Groto, before side stepping and tripping Uno as he barreled past.

Uno skidded against the walkway and broke his lip open against the stone.

"Why you-!" Jac yelled and flew at him, Ayro lifted him up by his shirt and tossed him to the ground. Itgu came forth afterward, only to be easily kicked hard in the stomach by an uplifted foot. Uno was still scrambling up as Aryo reached for Sano, who lashed out with a bony fist. It was useless as it missed first, then caught on an arm that had already grabbed a firm hold of his shirt again.

Jac jumped to his feet and grasped his own hold onto Sano's shirt, attempting to pull him down as Aryo lifted him violently and quickly up in the air. Uno had finished hauling himself up, and readied himself for another tackle into the adult, while Groto finally convinced himself to rise from the pavement, nursing a bleeding nose.

A greasy voice drawled, and held them mid-action and caught their attentions all at once, "Hey you, set him down."

The cadets gasped a bit before turning their eyes behind them towards the street. Hoto puffed on his cigarette, actually looking a bit bored, and finally decided to draw closer as Aryo obeyed, though his fist was still wrapped into Sano's shirt front.

The captain was taking his time in stalking closer, the boys noticed, even for his usual sluggish self. He smoked his stick with slow puffs and occasionally adjusted the bag of groceries he had cradled in one of his arms. He put the bag down when he was apparently close enough, letting his cigarette fall with it, and rubbed the stub out with his foot, before slowly looking back up.

"He's Yevon's property now, you know." The captain said with his eyes flicking to the hand that held Sano in place.

Ayro twitched at the casual behavior but managed to stay cool as he asked him, "Who are you, Sir?"

"Captain Hoto," Hoto nodded than stood straight again, putting his hands on his lower back and putting pressure on it, "I'm those boys', ah," His face seemed to tighten a bit as a small crack popped from his spine, "Rather _old_ commander, see? I'm in charge of them and make sure they don't go anywhere they're not supposed to. Oh-" he added, his thin eyes hooding over, "I think you ought to let go of his shirt collar. Looks like you're choking him a bit."

Sano breathed in the sweet taste of oxygen before trying to escape again. He was stopped, however, by a crushing grip that was quickly slapped on his wrist. Aryo held him in place behind him, keeping him from the Captain's full sight.

"He's my son," Ayro growled and shook his arm hard when Sano opened him mouth to protest, "Isn't there a rule that minors must have a parent's signature to join the Yevon Army?"

"Oh?" Hoto raised his eyebrow, clearly amused, and smirked, the corner of his mouth tight, "I had understood he was an orphan."

Sano looked up at the Captain's face, unsure of what he was planning to do.

"He lied," Ayro pulled Sano more behind him, Sano hissing at the sharp pain running down his hand and up his arm, "I'm taking him back now."

"Oh, no you're not," Hoto narrowed his falcon colored eyes, "You take him, and I will shoot you in your back, you lying bastard."

Ayro stiffened, "How do you know I'm lying?"

Hoto sighed, patience Sano didn't realize he was exercising until then running thin, "Isn't it obvious? You are not his father. You're not even old enough to be his father! Let him go now or I'll unfortunately be forced to break your arm."

Jac made an oval shape with his mouth and mocked Ayro by childishly going, "Ooooooooo."

Ayro looked behind Sano into Jac's pressed face before going back to Hoto. Clearly he was sizing him up, and Sano did the same. Hoto was gangly, age clearly wearing down on his joints as it did on the corner of his eyes, and he had strands of gray intermediately between his oily black hair. Aryo, though hardly strapping, could probably beat him down enough to get away with kidnapping a boy again. Sano swallowed, hardly feeling comforted by the fact that Hoto was set on not letting this man take him away.

"I'm older than I look," Ayro insisted, evidently trying a smarter and easier way of getting away with it, and the already bruising grip tightened around Sano's arm, forcing out a wince. Aryo then sneered at the none too pleased looking face of the Captain, "You can't take my son."

"I've already said you are _not _this boy's father. So, you can't take him," Hoto grabbed Ayro shoulder and yanked him closer, his towering height overpowering Sano's once brother in law, and Sano swallowed down what he earlier thought and smiled hopefully.

Aryo's face was fairly shocked, inches from the Captain's, as the latter glared daggers into the shorter man's face. Aryo recovered quick enough though, and growled, "I suppose you have proof that I'm not?"

"And am I to assume you have proof that you are?" Hoto leaned forward and hissed. Ayro stuttered for words and Hoto chuckled, putting a hand in a pouch behind him for another cigarette. He stuck it in his mouth and flipped a matchbook out from his front pouch and brought it to light with one hand. In one swift motion he lit the end before flicking the match out and blowing smoke from the side his mouth into Ayro's face. Ayro was caught up in his watching his cool attitude, and finally shook his head to regain his senses.

Aryo asked, "What are you going to do if I don't?"

"Didn't I already illuminate that for you?" Hoto made a smooth motion with his wrist, "If you stupidly choose to take this boy, I'll shoot you in your back."

"Fine," Ayro yanked himself free from the Captain's grasp and made a show of stepping a way from Sano, each of his steps deliberate and slow, with his hands held beside his head. Hoto wiggled the stick in his mouth amusedly before opening his thin lips again.

"If ever you come back for Trenraka-" Hoto chuckled darkly, "You might never be seen again."

Something in the sallow-skinned man's face spoke miles of ominous and foreboding truth.

The message was sent and Ayro shrunk before he slunk away, peeved and slumped shouldered. As soon as his back was out of sight into the city, Uno busted out in booming laughter.

"Bwa ha ha ha ha hahahahhahaha!"

"What's so funny, Mydo?" Hoto blinked and patted the hand that held up Ayro against his pant leg, almost subconsciously, before laying his hand at his side.

Uno waved the air before looking back at the almost kidnapped boy, "Hey, did youse know's that guy, Sano?"

Sano, first sputtering and snorting, held back his laugh in his throat before it exploded. Uno opened his shallow black eyes wider at the odd display of positive emotion from Sano's part and Hoto raised an eyebrow again, the stick slightly bobbing in his mouth.

"You're an idiot!"

"Hey's, I am not!"


	2. Breaks and Falls

**By StormyTitan**

**A/N: I should probably mention that the second part will be pretty lengthy compared to the first. I hope you enjoy nonetheless. And this chapter skips a bit of time, say, a month or so from the ending of the last chapter.  
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><p>"Ahahahhahahahahahahaha~!" Bask clapped his hands together and smiled slightly, despite the dangerous aim of the revolver pointed straight at his dark shades. So close, in fact, the glass reflected the narrow barrel and the gloved hand that clutched it tightly with an impatient finger on the trigger.<p>

"Why so angry Captain Nanbu?" He addressed the Captain that was in charge of him first before attending to the one that was threatening him the most, "Captain Hoto, my friend?"

In unison, the two captains answered with twitching eyebrows, "Where are the boys!?"

"What boys?" Bask feigned innocence, but a revealing smile stretched out, "I've no clue what you two men speak of-"

Nanbu roared into his subordinate's face, patience cracking behind his own red-hued one, "Our cadets, Bask!"

Bask hummed a little in the back of his throat, almost in an acknowledging or recalling sort of manner, before his voice airily breathed, "Cadets?"

"The five boys we've been training for the past month!" Hoto raised the barrel and pressed it into the man's white forehead, "I know you have a weird obsession with this particular batch, so tell us what you've done with them!"

For the past month, as it was said, the two Captains had diligently seen to the boys training. And, the ghost of an Alchemist Bask had never been more than to the edge of their training area, carelessly watching them until a superior, and no less, ordered him away. The boys, in all honesty, were thoroughly creeped out by his presence and his ever smiling face, but the Captains gave him little attention, explaining that he was known as the 'Mad-Alchemist Bask' for a reason.

However, when the two Captains marched into the bunk house for the morning wake up call, the beds were made properly, but peculiarly empty. They were finally forced to give the man the attention he was apparently seeking.

"The way you say it makes it sound like I'm a pedophile!" Bask changed his expression, into a more subdued one though a grin still lurked under his pale lips, "How should I know where your cadets are? I've been mixing potions all morning, in this very spot." To end his point his tapped the toe of his black leather boot against the stone flooring of his 'lab' which the Captains had cornered him in.

Nanbu, in one swift and smooth motion, nudged the gunner Captain aside and gripped a handful of the leather outfit that the Alchemist was encased in and hoisted him into the air, causing Bask's feet to dangle, "Enough lies you little split faced-!"

"Kodai saw you give them something," Hoto cocked the hammer of his revolver, still trained on the Alchemist, "What was it?"

"Ah? So you had the Black Mage spy on me and now he tattled?" Bask accused Hoto with a smile before he shook his head a little, good humor spilling from every facial feature he possessed, "You know I'd do nothing criminal, Captain. Especially to that precious flock of chickens you've taken to so particularly. Not that there is a specific reason why one would. Unless, of course, the lovely little clutch possesses one particular little chicky-"

The Captain raised a brow, his mouth unsmiling, conveying that the Assassin's poisons expert better stop babbling.

Bask made one last sound of a syllable of a laugh being cut off, noticing with crossed eyes the gun edging closer to his face. Bask finally frowned, his shoulders lowering, and used his middle finger to push his shades back over his eyes, "Just a couple of potions to liven them up a bit. That's all. You know, since you always wake them up so early, work them down to the bone every morning, shove them into the training with the normal cadets, and have late afternoon training sessions whenever it tickles your fancy. I figured the little chickens must be tired by now, and felt the greatest of sympathies for them. Come now, comrades, is that so terrible? Can't you see I'm harmless?"

"We will decide if what you did is harmless," Nanbu shook his arm, Bask's mouth stretching out into a smile as he was shaken, before roughly dropping the skinny pale man back to his feet and asking pointedly, "Now where are they?"

Again, the alchemist hummed lightly before cackling lightly, "I don't feel like divulging that-"

_Click _

"Ulp!" Bask pointed a weak finger at the revolver, one blank shot fired as it was aimed straight for his face, "T-the rest of t-that I-I-isn't l-loaded, is it, friend?"

"Two empty, the rest full," Hoto re-cocked the hammer of his weapon, a smirk rising on the corner of his edged lips, "Now, Bask, you're intelligent enough to know basic math right? What are your chances that the next round is an empty shot?"

"That isn't safe!" Bask gulped as Hoto's finger became taunt, "Wait wait! I'll tell-! I'll tell you, alright? Just put that away!"

Hoto lowered it but dangerously narrowed his eyes, "Talk."

"I let them have a day off," Bask shrugged, "You guys are no fun so I more or less hinted and nudged and prodded for them to take a day off, courtesy of Captain Nanbu of course, heh, heh, and to take a little break off base."

"WHAT?!"

"Where are they now?" Hoto flexed his fingers in front of his body, his eyes wide, "Bask, do you know what will happen to us if those trainees get hurt?"

"Where have you sent them?" Nanbu also seemed panicked. The situation with the man named Ayro still hasn't exactly been solved quite yet, they unable to find out where exactly he slunked off too after the incident, and Yevon knows there were other freaks out in the city. Even in a controlled place like Bevelle. The boys haven't even left the base after that episode. There was no telling what they were going to want to do now that they were 'allowed'.

"Mmmn," Bask stretched a little, clearly a little prickly from being held up in the air, before nodding his head a little, "Over by the woods, past the bridges, I think. At least that's what I suggested to them."

As the alchemist looked up and met the captains' expression, he changed his tone to a bubbly and exuberantly happy one-

"Aw, come on Captains, let them have fun. You know, I didn't tell you any sooner because I knew you'd ruin their good time! After a while I was _planning _on telling you, but then I was a bit hungry and decided to get some breakfast…after that it…slipped my mind." He finished with a wide grin.

Nanbu cracked his knuckles and Hoto took a threatening step closer, his hands curled in front of him like he was going to grab the Alchemist.

Bask smile twitched, his mad grin faltering, and he nervously chuckled, "It was just a little fun...friends?"

Hoto bared his teeth and inched closer, "Oh, I'll show you 'fun' you jacked-up piece of sh-"

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><p>"IT!" Uno's massive hand crashed into the back of Sano's head.<p>

"Ow!" Sano bent to the ground and clutched the back of his neck, cradling the throbbing pain of another attempt from Uno to engage in a friendship building game. He screamed down at his feet, addressed to the lumbering fool standing behind him, "I told you tag is for little ones, you pestering dolt!"

"Come on!" Groto nearly whined and jumped into his back, legs wrapping around his middle and arms around his neck, "You know it's fun!"

Sano growled and showed his teeth. Groto immediately leaped-frog over his bent head and a 'your no fun' look spread over his pale freckly face. Uno frowned and tried to offer again.

"We could try to play some other game, ya know?" Uno wracked his mind for alternatives, "Like uh…"

"Oh leave it alone!" Jac put his hands on either side of him, smashing down the long grass he had hidden in when laying and sat up, looking over the tall blades, "Trenraka's right, Mydo, Sedevan, that's kiddy stuff."

"So what do youse wants to do?" Uno sucked in a gulp of air and wiped his sweaty forehead, his thick brows pushed down into his eyes. He wasn't too happy that every attempt at friendship or fun was still being swatted down so petulantly.

The small hill of overgrown grass was brushed by the wind as it passed by the creek the boys relaxed by. Jac seemed to take in this moment peacefully before plopping back down to the bent wildflowers and grass.

"Relax. That's what Bask said to do, right?" Jac spread his slender arms over the ground, breathing in deeply, "Try it and you'll see how nice it is."

"Ah," Uno opened his mouth and looked to the side, thinking about it. He then shook his head and smiled, "Nah, I want tah do stuff, not jus' sit around, ya know?"

"Whatever," Jac sighed and close his eyes.

Sano crossed his arms and sat by Jac, who was the only one that shared his view on how they should spend this time at the moment. Sano looked over at Jac before falling back and making his own body print in the grass. A slurring, "It isn't so bad out here," slipping from his sharply curved mouth.

Uno took in another whiff of wet mud and water, the smell reminding him of his grandpa's dock, before inching closer to the two boys laying out.

"Oh c'mon," He tried to coax, "Don'cha want tah-"

He wasn't allowed to finish his sentence as a concentrated mouthful of water flew and arched through the air and directly exploded against the back of his fuzzy month-old shaved head. Uno brought this thick hand up against the back of his skull before whirling around under the warming sun to see Itgu, naked, and standing in the creek up to his knees.

"Losers!" Itgu slapped the running surface and sent thick droplets up and onto the boys.

Jac shot up, eyes flaring, "You- you chocobo's feathery ass!"

"Ha ha!" Itgu merely laughed heartily at the interesting choice of a swear and turned to quickly wade farther into the waist deep current, taunting, "See what you can do about, girlies!"

Excitement eagerly traveled through their blood as Sano, Groto and Uno felt the challenge call to them. There, Bevelle's city walls a half mile from their little spot and half hidden by a grove of trees, all stupid rules and polite customs enforced by monks were forgotten. Uno and Groto, one on each side of Sano, who was sitting up again, looked down with smiling faces at him. Then, as if a silent signal was given, they officially threw away all rules and customs and forgot that the monks would yell at them if they were there. They ran to the water, obscenely hooting and shooting and pushing each other semi-roughly, and tossed their clothes behind them.

Itgu, seeing their quick approach, dove underneath the surface of the glimmering water and rose to spit a stream of water at them. As Groto took the stream in the middle of his white bare chest, the three boys jumped high into the air and dove into the cold water. Some yelping at the first shock, they all quickly proceeded to make excessive noise, displace as much water as they could, and 'dunk' each others heads underneath.

Coughing and dripping, Uno looked up and smiled invitingly, "Jac, it's a lot of fun. C'mon."

Despite the coaxing, which the other boys aided, Jac shook his head and clung to the shirt around his body, "I don't think so."

"Whatever," Itgu, the first to give up, frowned and rolled his eyes, "Such a wimp...can't even swim."

"Is that it?" Groto's eyes sparkled with the childlike innocence he seemed to possess in abundance over the others, "Hey, if that's all then I can teach you! It isn't that deep anyway-"

"No, now drop it," Jac crossed his arms and laid back. Groto's smile left then he dipped under the water again, bubbles bursting against his lips as he spoke into the water, "O-kay."

Sano stared at the boy on the bank, obviously not enjoying himself, "Hey, what's your problem any-"

"Tag!" Uno's pounced on his back, and considering the size difference, crushed Sano into the water.

Sputtering back up, Sano elbowed Uno in his chest, "Didn't I already tell you I didn't want to play any mindless games!?"

Uno pouted, "Youse are no fun, ya know that?"

"Oh, cry me a river," Sano rubbed his cheeks with the side of his fists and stuck out into the deeper water.

Watching, Uno blinked his big black eyes, "Where'd youse learn to swim so good huh? Youse almost look like a fish!"

"I'm not near as good as-" Sano stopped paddling against the current and swallowed down his brother's name, who's element seemed to be water itself, "-other people..." He finished up and frowned into the twinkling surface. The sight that met him made him angry and he slapped it, displacing his already warped reflection that looked a lot like Yagi.

He started kicking back to the bank, announcing loudly and anti-socially, "I'm done. You go on and mess around all you like."

Once to his destination, he hauled himself up and shook the loose bits of water from his hair, squeezing the ends, and wiped at his water-soaked face and chest. Leaving his clothes where they were, he made his way over to the other anti-social and took a seat beside him in the grass.

Jac stuck his chin upward when he said nothing, "The hell you want?"

"Nothing," Sano answered just a abruptly as the boy had.

Uno watched him leaving, pouting a bit without meaning to, and realized he had messed up again. Every time they were close to being friends, he had to ruin it somehow.

It wasn't really his fault though, was it? He was trying to be fun, and nice, but no one seemed to care or want to be friends with him. And even with Captain Nanbu nearby, Uno was immensely lonely without Pino and the old man, or even all the changing faces from the orphanage that could at least smile at him once in a while. He had to admit, it was difficult to stay in a cheery mood when they were being worked so hard, but at least now they had a break. Shouldn't everyone be laughing and wanting to mess around, like they weren't allowed to? No, they wanted to be grumpy.

Sano was still distant and resistant to any offers of friendship as usual, though since the Aryo incident a little less mean with the insults, while everyone else didn't seem to care whether lil' ol' Uno was there or not.

Crestfallen, Uno slumped into the muddy bank, brown smearing on his bare chest as his dull eyes watched the no-funs do nothing. Groto was sputtering and coughing behind him, he could hear it dimly, as Itgu dunked him relentlessly underneath the water. It sounded like they were having fun as Groto turned to push him down, but Uno couldn't muster up the strength to go and join them.

His eyes were set on Sano as the boy laid back and watched the sky change slowly. He was hoping he'd finally have a friend in the last cadet. After all, Groto was way more faster than him during runs and couldn't slow down enough to let him keep up, and Jac was too advanced physically to lower himself down to his level either. Itgu, who at times wasn't as adapt at the tasks they were put to as he'd like to admit, wasn't nice company at all. He'd only poked fun at his size and body odor at every chance.

But, it didn't seem like Sano was much different from Itgu, except he was at an even lower level physically (though fast catching up) then the rest and was usually alongside Uno because of it. And throughout the month, sharing the same bunk and all, they had some late-night conversations that could almost be classified as 'friendly' but Sano seemed to forget all about that when it suited him.

It was wearing him out. Uno wanted a friend that stayed his friend all the time, not just one that would be nice to him as the mood saw fit. And it rarely did. But, he really couldn't give up. After all, he'd be without a friend for the rest of his army life (at least, that's he saw it at the time) if he gave up on befriending Sano. And besides that, Sano was interesting. Mean-faced, sour-mood, and sometime foul-mouthed, but interesting.

He was smart, saying big words with ease, and he wasn't afraid of doing what he wanted. Uno admired that kind of courage, pilfering cigarettes to smoke in secret at night, telling Nanbu off (with punishment) when he was being worked extra hard, and not caring what anyone thought of him. It made him look like a jerk, but Uno thought about how it would be really hard for him to do all that.

And there were some moments- passing and fleeting but still there- where he felt Sano was more connected to him then anyone else.

After a while of his juggling with his thoughts, Uno's eyes were pulled up from the ground with the motion of Sano sitting up right again, looking rather restless and his intelligent eyes meeting the inquiring black ones.

Sano turned to look down at Jac, who had his eyes closed and was breathing softly, almost asleep, before a wicked idea flashed across his face. He smiled sharply, the bottom of his thin eyelids crinkling and bending, before he turned back to eye Uno and the boys splashing in the water.

Uno lifted a brow curiously, pushing himself off the muddy bank, as Sano continued to grin devilishly in his direction before his bobbed his head in a quick nod. Uno smiled back. At least he had earned this much. Every time Sano was planning on doing something, Uno was first to know.

"Hey!" Sano cupped his hands to his mouth and caught the other boys' attention. When they turned to look, Sano's devious smile cracked open as he pointed down at the confused boy laying out on the ground, "Let's get Jac!"

Itgu and Uno looked at each other, grins spreading, while Groto was the first to leap out of the water and tackle Jac, who was already grappling with Sano. Itgu soon followed, jumping out in a spray of water, before Uno finally managed to lumber out himself. Jac struggled earnestly as the boys grabbed him by his shirt and tried to hold him in place, hoping a fun-loving smile might pop out as they encouraged some wrestling.

Instead they received a hard glare and a loud shout, "Stop it! I don't want to wrestle!"

The boys froze, as the tone of the voice was like a knife and cut through the air and echoed in the silence that followed. It was more harsh then someone who was simply annoyed or tired, it was angry, livid.

Groto was first to act, letting go of his shirt and put his palms up apologetically, "I'm sorry."

"Hmph!" Jac fixed his shirt and jerked it back over his body correctly from where it was slightly disheveled. He always was making sure his uniform stayed nice and tidy but the boys didn't know he was this serious about it until that moment.

Even Itgu seemed to regret a little of his actions, though he mumbled his apology with a put-off quality to his voice, "Jeez, man, lighten up. We didn't mean nothing by it, I mean, we were only messing around."

"It wasn't funny," Jac glared the hardest at Sano for starting it, "None of you guys are funny."

"Sorry," Sano flinched a little and Uno nodded too, "Yeah, we's didn't mean for youse to get all upset or nothing. We didn't hurt ya, did we?"

"No. And-…whatever," Jac shook his head at all of them and laid back down with tightly crossed his arms, "You all need to just grow up."

A lapse of silence passed, the other boys sitting and glancing at each other in the awkward hush. It was broken with a sigh, and eyes of all colors were drawn to Sano who shook his head, glum looking as usual again.

"Well, I suppose the games are over now." The boys sullenly nodded their agreement with Sano's statement before they froze again as another voice, a deep gruff one, growled menacingly-

"I'll say."

The boys, some yelping in horrifying recognition, stiffened and turned their heads to look behind them to meet the face that would certainly match that familiar punishment-dispensing tone.

Nanbu, a deep frown cutting across his chiseled face, crossed his arms over his broad chest.

"I hope you boys had fun," Hoto, who like an apparition, appeared in front of them, facing the creek and the distant Bevelle, scowled deeply at them all sitting around and missing a good few hours of training already. The boys gulped together, as Hoto growled, "Because now the fun is over."

Itgu moaned, "Aw man."

* * *

><p>Maybe it was a good thing that Bask had given them the potions to liven them up earlier that morning. It sure helped now that they worked well into late night cleaning the base. The mess-hall was done, outside as well, training room in order, closets cleaned out, offices organized and now the reprimanded group had moved on to one last building, their own bunk house.<p>

Groto rubbed hard at the stain that wouldn't disappear from the floor before moaning miserably, "Good Yevon, this isn't fun."

"I hear whining, but I don't hear scrubbing," Hoto puffed lazy circles into the air, his feet propped up on the table that sat in the corner of the bunk room, and the chair he sat in leaning back at a sharp balanced angle.

Uno and Sano swiped the windows with a cloth, a whine also escaping from them both. Itgu coughed at the dusty shelves that held records of those that bunked there, going back to ten years ago, and pulled large dust 'bunnies' out into the air with angry brushes of his feather duster. Jac cussed openly as he scrubbed the floors with Groto and whenever the boy got in his way.

"This sucks!" Jac threw the scrub brush to the floor and crossed his arms, "Captain! Why are we still doing this?"

"Ah," Hoto gave a quick nod in acknowledgement and let his eyes roll down to his bottom lids to peer down at the youth staring angry-faced up at him, "Don't you now what a punishment is when you see one?"

"Why are we being punished though? All we did was just listen to a senior-"

"Bask is _not _a senior officer. And the fact you listened to him over _us_, Captains, shows that you all are idiots." Hoto kicked the scrub brush back, "Now get back to work."

"Why? We never do anything," Jac frowned, complaining further, "All we're doing is wearing ourselves out for the extra punishment training your going to lay on us tomorrow, right? Cuz' no matter what, that's all we do-" The boy continued to mutter, "We train, train, train, and train harder for something that never comes."

"Well, soon-" Hoto leaned back, dangerously tilting, in the wood chair, "That 'something' might just come, you know."

Eyes from all around the room secretly peeked in the Captain's direction, interested and curious.

Hoto seemed pleased with the reaction that didn't go by unnoticed to him, and he blew a long stream of smoke from his mouth and drawled, "Oh yes. It might just be that the 'something' that comes will knock one of you boys out of this little operation forever."

"WHAT!?"

Hoto smirked and leaned his head back with his angled chair, calmly explaining, "See, there is five of you. And tradition says that each person has to have a partner, one recorder, one assassin, understand? Now, with five, do the math. One little unlucky somebody is going to have to be left out. They'll be sent to basic training with the normal troops, just like that."

"That's not fair!" Sano yelled suddenly, "What has all the work we've doing been for if you're just going to make one of us leave like that?"

"Well the four who work the hardest get to stay," Hoto licked the butt of his cigarette and positioned it in the other corner of his mouth, "And the one that fails gets to leave."

Groto swallowed, "I-is it based on how strong we are?"

"Some of it," Hoto looked up at the ceiling and scratched his chin, "Some of it is other stuff. All you have to do is work your hardest in everything until we decide what useless maggots we keep. Why all the sad faces, boys?" He smiled darkly, "You were complaining about all that 'hard work', if you get booted out of assassin training, I think you'll find it will be a lot more easier to manage."

"That ain't fair!" Uno repeated virtually the same thing Sano had, "We's all work hard! Youse can't tell who works harder than the other!"

Hoto turned his head and looked out of the corner of his eye behind him to the boy who had his thick fist coiled tightly around the rag which he wiped the windows down with. Hoto sucked in a quick puff of smoke before droning, "Well, from what I can tell, **you** are the one who's going to have to leave."

"Hey," Nanbu raised his head from the bunk he lounged on, speaking up for the first time that evening as Hoto ordered them about, "Hoto, man, don't tell him that. The kid tries after all…"

"Trying can be for naught here, it's the doing that matters," Hoto wiggled the cigarette and blew smoke out of the corner of his mouth.

His hands were numb. His chest tingled. Uno closed his eyes and turned back to the window quickly, the stinging behind his lids burning. True, at first he didn't want anything to do with the assassins. But to be dropped so easily, when he worked so hard anyways, that stung him in a way that he hadn't felt since his grandparents death.

Back then when he was little, he was powerless to protect what he wanted to the most, but he thought he got passed that already. He thought he _improved _at least in the last month and handful of weeks. He could finally be able to get himself, by himself, what he wanted to do most.

And at the moment, it was to show everyone that he wasn't stupid and powerless to help himself. He could become an Elite recorder or whatever just as much as they could. He was equal to them. But, with the Captain's perhaps more hurtful words then was intended, he felt shamed that he was foolish enough to think that much. Everyone knew it anyway.

But, how hard did he have to work to turn out at least average?

Uno scrubbed at the window harder, a dismal frown reflecting in the glass against the night scene of the base outside. Sano peeked out of the corner of his sharp eye at him before sighing lightly and peering over his shoulder. Uno looked at the back of Sano's head reflected in the window for a moment, as Sano continued to look behind him, before Uno focused his attention to a smudged corner, cleaning it half-heartedly.

_Kreeck- **Cladda'Crash!** _

Uno started at the sound before whirling around to see what had caused it.

Hoto blinked from his spot on the floor, before recomposing himself and shifting his eyes upward after the clatter of him falling subsided. His thin eyes trailed up to the chair, tilted back to a near straight down angle, and Sano's hand tight against the back of the it.

"The fuck?" Hoto growled and stood up, eyes boring into Sano's thin face, "What do you think you're doing, Cad-et?"

The emphasis on the syllables of the word brought out the harshness in the tone that delivered it. Sano looked down at his hand slowly, his eyes widening, then they shot back up with a near unbelieving face, "I-I erm, uh, huh…t-the chair was uh, I-I uh, I don't know?"

Nanbu cracked into a fit of hysterical laughter, "Bah ha ha ha hahahahahahaha!"

"Shut up!" Hoto snarled to the person on bed, then promptly turned back around, "Don't you think you're in enough trouble, boy?"

"The-uh," Sano opened his mouth to make an excuse, anything, since as Hoto said, he honestly did think he was in enough trouble already. Sadly, nothing came out like it was formed in his head, "I the-th-the chair was uh, the chair…it had a fly!"

Nanbu screeched with a hoot and curled upward as he gripped his stomach.

"Tell me," The Captain, un-amused at being dumped out of a chair, leaned closer into Sano's face and asked with a faux-musing sort of sound, "Is it that you actually _like_ trouble, or does it always just happen to find you?"

"The-uh," Sano started to sink into his shoulders under the inverted stare before gathering a bit of courage and calling upon his unique bit of guts that Uno had come to admire, "The latter Sir, would be best to describe-"

Hoto grabbed his shoulder before he finished his sentence and pushed Sano backwards a couple of steps with an annoyed expression on his face, "Go clean up the bathroom with your toothbrush for pushing a Captain out of chair, Wise-guy."

"Heh," Itgu snorted into the dusty shelves, hiding his amusement. Despite his efforts, in the quiet, everyone heard it. Groto and Jac also tried to hide the hilarity of what Sano had done by snuffling downward into the suds. Uno himself slapped his mouth when Sano yanked the chair Captain Hoto was leaning in backwards to dump him out of it.

"You too!" Hoto looked over at Uno as he spluttered with his laughing, unable to hide it from the Captain's eyes, "Since you find this so damn funny!"

"Gyahahhahahhahahahahahahaha!" A tear formed in the corner of Nanbu's eye as his laughing fit was renewed when the failed chortles of Uno was called out. He wiped them away as Hoto glared at him, the climax of his laughter dying down to a few chuckles once more, before Hoto sneered in response to his apparent delight in what he had seen.

"And you can go watch them, because someone has to. And if those two get anymore smart ideas it will be on you and not me."

"No prob-" Nanbu held back more laughter as he got up and passed the skinnier man, "Hrmf! Heh… ."

Hoto blinked as Nanbu opened his mouth, obviously wanting to say something though his annoying giggles made it hard for him to begin. Hoto waited until words finally left his equal's mouth.

"How did'ja like the floor?"

**Bang!**

"Yikes!" Nanbu stared up at the ceiling, a burning hole in it, "By Yevon's name, man, you got to find another way to vent out your anger than shooting everything!"

"Bathroom, now!" Hoto barked and pointed out the door with the end of his revolver and threatened to shoot again, except in maybe a softer target than a tin roof. The two boys, desperately holding back their snickers despite danger, fled outside obediently as Nanbu slowly followed. After the three bodies left, Hoto looked back at the three children still left, their eyes twinkling with mirth.

"What the hell you all gawping at?"

Scrubbing and dusting picked up again and Hoto sat back down in the chair. He lifted his fingers to his mouth and then frowned before looking down at the floor where the stick laid from the fall. He stomped it out before reaching for a new one, making sure this time that all four legs of the chair were on the ground.

* * *

><p>"Bwa ha ha!" Uno held his sides, his toothbrush in his hand, "T-tha-that was-ha ha ha!"<p>

"Alright," Nanbu looked down at Uno, who was doing all he could to contain himself, and softly cut in with his low toned voice "We all know it was funny, but now, back to work."

"Y-yes sir," Uno swallowed and gulped back the rest of his laughs for the night, "T-that was pretty good, Sano."

"Might change his mind into deciding to get rid of me instead," Sano looked down miserably into the tiles and frowned at his stupidity.

"Aw c'mon-" Uno comforted. When Sano was in a bad mood, he wasn't a lot of fun to be around.

Sano swiveled his head to look at his pudgy face, "No, you 'c'mon'. Don't you see? He will have no reason to like me now that I humiliated him. Are you too dense to see the consequences that can arise from that little stunt I pulled?"

"Hey, I's-" Shoulders drooping, Uno started in a subdued tone before the Captain's booming loud voice interrupted them.

"Don't sweat it, either of you," Nanbu smiled, honest, and leaned into the sink, "Hoto was just being an ass after all. And don't think you really humiliated him, Sano, his pride has stood under harsher trials than that. It won't even tickle him. And by the way," The bulky Captain saw fit to add, "He doesn't know which of you kids are being booted out, alright? He just said all that stuff because you were all complaining about the hard work, get it?"

"Youse really think?" Uno sighed and smiled up, but somehow was still worried, "Do youse really think they's ain't gonna get rid of me?"

"No, I don't," Nanbu shook his head, and lifted his arm to make a grab at his own thick and well developed bicep to add emphasis, "You're strong, the strongest we've ever had from the cadets your age. I highly doubt they'll get rid of you so easily, Mydo."

"That's good to hear! Ain't it Sano?" Uno looked happily to the thin bent back before the happiness fled from his face, "Oh, hey, w-what's wrong?"

"Damnit I don't want to leave either!" Sano threw his toothbrush and it skittered along the tiles and crashed into the toilet, "But I just _had_ to lose my mind for a few crucial moments! That's the last time I defend you!" He pointed his face towards Uno's bubbly one, eyes narrowed and arms crossed firmly under his chest.

"Hey," Nanbu nudged his back with his foot, "Don't be so overdramatic. If it helps any, Hoto doesn't pick who stays anyways. It's the Head Captain Uguro, ultimately, who does."

"Oh," Sano, like Uno, sighed in relief. Uno smiled, seeing Sano relax and his spirits lift, if only a tiny bit. Sano stretched his hand out and grasped the toothbrush again, after Nanbu kicked it back towards him, "T-thank you, Captain Nanbu. That's good to hear."

"But, maybe you two are going to leave," Nanbu leaned back and breathed out deeply, "I don't want to lie to you or anything. It really could be either one of you. But, don't let that undermine your efforts to try." He hastily added before moving on, "You never know. I mean, I never expected Hoto to stay when he came around. But, he's here and one of the best at that."

"Oh really?" Sano sneered at the name and at the thought that the lazy Captain was a good solider much less an assassin.

Despite the fact of what Hoto did for him with his sister and what he did to Ayro, he still had not claimed a spot of respect in his mind. Everything else he did, the curt comments, the glares, the scowls, the barks of short commands, the shooting around his feet when he didn't run fast enough around the track, and most of all, the constant mocking of all their skills (or lack thereof), made the man seem like a complete A-grade Asshole. The man was a prick and a damn slave driver when he felt like it too.

"Yeah really," Nanbu smirked down towards the long haired boy that glared upwards, somewhat annoyed at his thoughts and the person that appeared in them, "Heh, I take it you don't like him much."

"Why should I?" Sano screwed his face sideways, "The man surely does nothing for me to make me like him."

"Ah, I don't know," Nanbu rubbed the back of his thick neck, one of his shoulders giving a half shrug, "You never know if there might be, uhm, a reason for all that?"

"Like what?" Sano frowned and rubbed the brush against the tiles harder. He didn't really want to hear an answer but an answer came none the less.

"He-hmm, he probably doesn't want me saying too much to you but," Nanbu exhaled deeply and leaned more into the sink, "You see, he missed out on his family because of what we do."

"Oh how tragic," Sano, feeling no sympathy what so ever, rolled his eyes, "If I were his family I'd never miss him at all."

"Youse don't really mean that, do ya? I mean, what if youse never saw your's dad?" Uno questioned good-naturedly.

Sano rolled his eyes again to peer out of his top lids at the other boy, "I _don't_."

"Oh yeah," Uno remembered they were orphans, at least to his knowledge, and blushed a little bit at how he showed his slower side again. He offered a more softer mumbled, "Sorry…"

Nanbu smiled a bit at them both before asking an odd thing, "Tell me boys, did you two know your fathers at all?"

Uno piped up right away, his eyes meeting Nanbu's and evidently happy to share. (He was always proud of his father as his grandparents were despite any shortcomings the man may have had). "I's didn't know him or nothing but I's know's his name was Fei Mydo, an' he died servin' in da army."

The Captain gave a quick nod, "Well, that's right enough," before turning to Sano, "And you?"

Sano glared, contemplating whether or not he should answer.

"Well? I'm not asking you to tell me your darkest secret, am I?" Nanbu chuckled and it seemed to break a little tension wound up in the skinnier boy. At least, he visibly relaxed and started to scrub indifferently at the floors again before he gave an answer.

"I don't know, he's in the army somewhere," Sano stopped his brushing at the tiles for a moment to stare at the grimy suds on the floor, "He could be dead, could be alive. I don't know his name so I'll never figure out."

"Oh, I won't say that," Nanbu rubbed his chin and laughed deep in his throat, "You'll be surprised at what Yevon can just…divinely make you run into sometimes…"

"Whatever," His head lifted up slightly before falling back down on his thin neck, "I don't think I care if I ever meet him."

Uno stuck his pudgy face in front of his field of vision, "Youse only think?"

Who wouldn't want to meet their dad if they had the chance!? Uno thought, also thinking that it would be crazy if the answer really was a solid 'no' for Sano. Personally, Uno would give anything to meet his mom and dad, something he would sometimes even dream about when he was still living with his grandparents. And though he couldn't really miss something he's never had, he always wanted the opportunity, at least.

"Well, I can't say I don't want to know who my father is!" Sano leaned back from the silently prying face, "I just don't care to meet him in person. He's as good as dead to me at this point!"

"Dead you say?" Nanbu gave a throaty laugh, "I'll be sure to keep that in mind if I ever happen to... find out who he is."

"Well don't bother on my account," Sano rubbed his shirt front to free his hands of the cold wet feeling of disgusting soap water.

Nanbu scratched under his throat lazily again, eyes watching them scrub away at the floor, "Oh, I won't."

"Well, if ya ask me," Uno ventured, "I'd love tah meet my dad."

"You said he was dead," Sano sneered.

"Yeah, but- if I's could-!"

Sano, against his will it seemed, had a smile inching on the corner of his lips, "Oh, keep dreaming."

"Yeah!" Uno shot back, half defensively, "An' uh…Youse too!"

* * *

><p>"Hey, Sano? Youse awake?" Uno's head slowly rose over the edge of the bunk like the roundness of a dawn sun coming up over a horizon.<p>

"What do you want?" Sano yawned wide, his mouth opening and his sleepy eyes scrunching shut, and with his wrinkled hands he wiped at his eyes. The feeling of wetness still hadn't left his palms; he couldn't have been sleeping more than a couple of minutes.

By the time the bathroom had been scrubbed down, the bunk house had already been cleaned properly and the others were in bed with the lights out. Needless to say, late as it was, Sano was far too tired for a conversation.

"This had better be good," Sano creaked open a thin eye to look at Uno standing on his tip-toes on the edge of his own bunk, while clinging to the side of his, and fidgeting with words tumbling in his head.

"Thank youse for ah…earlier," Uno smiled, "I-it was a lot of help, ya know?"

"Whatever, moron, go back to sleep," Sano flipped over and buried his face into the pillow, "I can listen to your pathetic gratitude when I'm awake!"

"Oh, okay," Uno whispered then lowered his body. Sano sighed as silence drifted into his ears after the creaking of the bed settled.

A whisper broke it, "Sorry."

"I get it, go to sleep," Sano moaned and rolled over again, "Let me sleep…."

"Oh, okay."

Again, silence.

"Hey Sano?"

"What, what, what?" Sano agitatedly repeated each grated out word before flipping over entirely and leaning over the side to stare down at the boy beneath. "What, Uno?"

"Why's did ya help me?" The question was asked with a hopeful tone.

"What do you mean?" Sano groggily moaned before shaking his head, the cloud of sleep still dulling his senses.

Uno thought for a moment, before mumbling, "Uhm, like, dump the Captain outta that chair when he was being mean an' all. I's thought youse woulda agree with him."

"Who says I don't?" Sano hissed, rubbing at his temples. The quiet that followed made him regret that statement almost instantly, but he only retracted it a bit, "But, like Captain Nanbu said, what does he know? Alright, he shouldn't have said that to you, and it made me-"

"Mad?" Again the bubbly tone was hopeful.

"Think what you like." Sano rolled over and buried his heavy face into his pillow. He blew out a long breath through his nose before adding, "You should probably sleep."

"I know…" Uno shifted his mass on the bed, the springs creaking and straining, before he settled himself again in the middle. His dull eyes fought the darkness to see the springs of Sano's bunk, talking to them in a hushed tone, "I wish ya coulda met my grandparents Sano…"

"Mm?" Sano groaned through his dim sleep, "Why?"

"I's thinks they's woulda liked youse."

"Ah," Sano replied, "I suppose my mother would've liked you too."

"Youse thinks so's?"

"Sure. Why not? My mother was good with kids…of all sizes." He yawned again, his voice quiet and slow, "You really out to stop blabbering and go to sleep…"

"O-kay," Uno smiled lightly before bursting out happily with a loud whispered, "G'nite, Sano!"

"Nuh? Ah, good night," Sano sleepily drawled back before his breath drew out with slumber.

Uno smiled again before his lids fell weightily over his eyes and shadows closed in on the sides of his vision allowing him to slip easily into sleep and dreams that Sano had already dove into above him.


	3. New Training Plans

**By StormyTitan**

**A/N: There's always time to learn new things!**

* * *

><p>"Trenraka!" Hoto barked behind him, "Stop closing your other eye! If you aim like that you can't see what's on the other side of you!"<p>

To prove his point, the Captain smacked the side of his face where he had closed his eye.

"Ow! That's how they taught me to shoot a rifle!" Sano shot back and reached up with his lean roughened hand to rub at the side of his face the Captain had swatted at angrily, "What do you want me to do about that? You yell at me for shooting with one eye close and the other Yevon Guardsman are yelling at me to keep only one eye focused!"

"Are the Guardsman training you?" Hoto sniffed, "Pah! If that is true then what am I wasting my time with you for?" Then, almost as an afterthought, he murmured under his smoke-abraded voice, "They only tell you that so you can strain your eyes and look like an idiot for listening to them. After all this time you still don't know anything?"

"I know plenty-!" Sano started when a meek voice interrupted them with a soft, 'ah-hem?'

"What?" Both Sano and Hoto, in mirror images of each other, turned from their middles to stare down at Groto, who, rooted under the beating sun, shouldered his rifle and raise his hand with an uncertain, "Uhm, sir?"

"This isn't school, put your hand down," Hoto sneered then impatiently circled his wrist in the air, "Well, go on!"

"Uhn! Right! K-Kodai is uh, requesting to talk to you!" Groto, for some reason out of his extreme nervousness he developed, or rather had all along but had worsened, saluted and added loudly, "Sir!"

"Probably about that 'special training' Bask has been nagging about," Hoto mumbled near incoherently and rubbed the back of his neck, taking his sweet time in turning away from the range where Sano set his sights again.

The boys' ears all perked at the sound of his words, no matter how quietly mumbled.

"Sir, what do you mean by that?" Groto asked a bit more boldly then was usual of his character.

Another month had gone by of much of the same, thrice the work as any other trainee, and nothing they could see to show for it. 'Special training' sounded like the perfect thing to break up the monotony of their daily routine from the past two months that had passed and Groto, excitedly, had realized this as much as the other boys.

Uno looked up from where he crouched on the concrete, practicing loading and unloading a rifle hesitantly, before secretly making eye contact with Sano. He, in turn, spared a peek at him before firing a shot into the distant target, feigning disinterest as the rest were, but listening intently just the same.

"Forget I said anything," Hoto started to walk off before he stopped not two steps from where he set off. He took out a cigarette to light up, despite the 'No Smoking' sign he stood by, let out a puff and smirked at all the half-hidden glances his way. He chuckled before sparing them from anymore suspense, "Alright…It's nothing too fancy though. All it is, is the Alchemist wants his shots in on training you bunch soon."

"His shots?" Sano lowered the gun he was squinting past, "Whatever is that supposed to mean exactly?"

Hoto brushed at the rather humid summer air, muttering hatefully about the heat even though it would only last so long this far north, before looking down with his narrow eyes, "I mean what it sounds like. We all, in the Assassin's Corp., get a right to train you cadets at one point or another if we wish until you specialize in something. Nobody wants to do the basic training though, so Nanbu and I just get stuck with it, see?"

At the sight of their faces subtly lighting up, he chuckled again and questioned, "What? You guys didn't really think that you just push through basic training this fast for nothing, do you?"

"So Bask is going to train us now? In what?" Jac speedily asked, his head raising up from the rifle he was cleaning.

Itgu glanced up from the boots he was polishing for back mouthing Captain Nanbu, the short bits of brown hair that had grown over the last couple of months from when it was first shaven covered in his perspiration. He was the only one that remained unsmiling.

"Alchemy of course," Hoto let out a raspy snort before frowning, "What else is he good for?"

"I don't want to learn Alchemy," Sano raised his gun back up, "Isn't that Al Bhed business in the first place?"

"Yeah, so it is," Hoto muttered a little, eyes watching the boy take aim again, before tapping his ashes down the moody boy's shirt, causing a yelp to erupt from him, before the Captain just stuck the stick back in his mouth. "You can learn a lot from Al Bhed, boy, remember that. They may have an aberrant way of doing things but that doesn't change that what they do with Alchemy saves lives and heals wounds."

"Same as spells and enchantments," Sano grumbled back and shook his shirt-back until the bits of still hot ash escaped from his uniform or the sweat from his back cooled them, "White Mages are technically all the army needs, right?"

"Bask would disagree," Hoto looked out of the corner of his eye at Itgu, who grumbled under his breath with the same dislike on his face that was on Sano's, "And I suppose you have something to say as well?"

"Bask freaks me out, Sir," Itgu spat on the toe of a boot looking very similar to Captain Nanbu's shoe size and ran the oily cloth in his hand over it, "I'd rather not get near him or his creepy concoctions."

"Me too," Groto nodded in agreement before lowering his head against the mid-day's harsh face.

"Why don't you get in the shade before you get sun-burned, ghost-boy," Hoto flicked his wrist lazily and took a sickening long drag of his cigarette.

"Sir, yes, sir," Groto gladly ducked his freckled white face and flaming red hair, wispy and sticking out from the sides of his head, under the lean-to that served as cover for the out door range shooters, "Thank you sir."

"Pah," Hoto sniffed then looked back over the field in front of them. He sucked the last bit of fume the stick could offer before throwing it down on the ground and snuffing it out with his boot and moving on, "Kodai probably wants his turn with you maggots too."

"Black magic?" Sano looked over his shoulder, a few rounds fired into the target, punching paper off the black outline's shoulders and chest, "Is it absolutely required?"

"To learn, yes, to specialize? No." Hoto looked at the swinging target, "Trenraka, you've skills in handling firearms, I'll give you that, but try aiming for the face a bit more. Chest plates can sometimes stop a bullet, after all."

"I don't want to actually shoot anyone in the face," Sano said truthfully, twisting up his own at the thought of the gore that would be produced by the swift act. It was enough to make him want to heave, "That would be rather… gruesome, wouldn't it?"

"You're in the army, gruesome is what we do." Hoto pointed back out to the target, "Now see to it that you do that from here on out, alright? Show me now."

Uno tightened his grip on the gun he had in his hands. It was safe to say he had a real dislike to them. Let him learn Alchemy and Black Magic, anything that might actually help people, but guns only made a mess of them. And he knew it…he had seen it.

"I didn't say I _wouldn't _do it." Sano said in response to what Hoto had been going on about, "I haven't had the chance yet and-"

"No, I get it," Hoto held up a hand to cut him off, "You're green to this. But don't get used to holding back _now. _You need to build up that habit of shooting straight an' true while they're just paper. Soon, you'll really have no choice. If they have a weapon in their hands, they might just shoot back."

Another round cracked before Sano paused in firing, his voice drawling, "Sir…by any chance, as assassins, would there be moment where it's a good thing to leave them alive?" Sano pressed his lips together and blinked at the sweat in his eyes, "For questioning and what not-"

"For most soldiers that may be, given that your commander didn't order the target's demise," Hoto leaned on the railing that separated the field from the lean-to, "But you're training to be an assassin, remember? Assassin's are only used for one thing, and that's to do away with targets. A quick death, that's what you're going for, always, and the head is a pretty sure way of doing it. Well, and a few extra rounds in the chest maybe, towards the heart."

Offhandedly, Hoto rubbed his chin and added, "And anyways, when you get them in the head it helps them from being identified later, so that's a plus."

_A plus? _Uno shivered and re-loaded his weapon for the fiftieth time over, trying not to think about a blood spattered wood chair and a pretty blonde head in a pool of dark crimson.

"A quick death?" Sano replied to another comment from the Captain, and seemed to look a bit queasy, though he hurried to hide it with a deep frown and harshly pinched eyelids, "That seems like quite a way to go."

Hoto finally accepted the fact that all the boys were still uneasy at the thought of taking a life. So, he sighed and then pointed out to the space where the target hung, a mere picture of a body, "Don't get connected in any way to the target. It doesn't matter what shape they're in, who they are, or half the time, even _why _you're doing it. You'll not have the luxury of even asking sometimes. In this operation, or anywhere in service to the Yevon militia, it's best for you not think, at all. Thinking is for when you come home and can put all that aside- and forget."

The last part came from deep in his throat and he finished with a rough sigh, that made the boys' shoulders sag.

Uno sniffed in and wiped at the sweat on his head. His face was scrunched up into a severe one at the talk of 'quick deaths'. Uno really hated guns now at that moment more than anything, perhaps except maybe the day he saw what they could do, but he worked on the one in his hands like he was ordered to. His fingers were stiff with repressed anger though and he accidentally hit the trigger with his taunt finger and a round went off. It exploded in a bang of orange and cracked the stone walkway with the small metal slug.

"Lady Luck!" Hoto stood up straight from where he instinctively crouched and look over at Uno with a livid expression. Around him, the other boys were glaring much in the same way. Uno gulped and sheepishly bowed his head into his shoulders. The solemn quiet that had laid over them was forgotten with the blast, though that wasn't necessarily desirable to Uno at the moment.

"What the Hell do you think you're doing?" Hoto snarled at his reddened face.

"Uhm," Uno had dropped the gun when the round went off but picked it up hurriedly, minding the trigger as he did so, "Im's awfully sorry, sir!"

"Hoto!" Kodai, in his heavy purple robe despite the heat, rounded the corner with a graceful twist in his torso, "What happened?"

"Nothing Kodai," Hoto put his boot over the discarded cigarette butt, not at all feeling like a lecture from the straight-by-the-book Black Mage who, despite himself being ranks above him, would without a doubt point out the posted sign and give him a sound lecture. Hoto shrugged dismissively, "Just a little accident."

"You better teach them safety first," Kodai frowned, his gold-yellow eyes shining with distaste for conventional army weapons, as apposed to magic, "Before these 'little accidents' lead to injuries."

"Nothing Pino can't fix," Nanbu ducked his bulking head under the leaning roof, winking at Uno when he said the resigned White Mage's name, as he appeared around the corner, having a habit of just showing up when ever it suited him if Hoto was to be in charge for the day, "Sorry I'm late, Hoto."

"Five hours can barely be called late but more negligent," Hoto turned his weight on his foot, but didn't lift up his heel from where he hid the cigarette butt, "Where were you?"

"I had to pay a visit to a certain orphanage as always. I got caught up in playing 'rocket' with little one's though...they just can't get enough of it!" Nanbu smiled a toothy grin before plopping his heavy set hand on Uno's head, "So, was that you?"

"Yeah," Uno mumbled shamefully, slowly drawing out the word for a bit, and looked up from under the palm, "You saw Vimo? How is he?"

"Old and senile as ever," Nanbu nodded and didn't notice the glares he got from Jac's direction, and of course oblivious that his attention to Uno would be seen as favoritism. When he gave his head one last bob of a nod, he swiveled his neck to look at Hoto, "Oh, by the way, Bask is shouting his head off in front of the mess hall. Wanna help me stuff him in a culvert?"

"How old do you think we are, fifteen?" Hoto smirked at the thought of the long rib-cagey body curled up in a sewer pipe before frowning and rubbing at his lower back, "You may not feel your age Nanbu, and Bask too, come to think of it, but I sure as hell do."

"I was joking in the first place," Nanbu shrugged and lifted his hand from Uno's black hair that had grown back. "Now, Bask is wanting to know about training the kiddos over at the Moonflow assassin's base. Of course, he needs your permission for that one."

At hearing the location, where his home was surely situated near by, Sano perked up again, of course forgetting the fact that his least favorite assassin was taking them.

"Absolutely not," Hoto's voice was stern and cut away all hope in Sano's head, "If that crazy bastard is taking them anywhere it's going to be the Kilika base by the Temple, as agreed. I've already prepared everything for that."

"That's farther than the Moonflow, you know? He was just thinking-" Nanbu scratched under his muscled chin, trailing off, before focusing again on his equal, "Mind explaining your reasoning Captain?"

As Captains, only Head Captain Uguro having any authority over them and the training of the cadets, they ultimately decided anything to do with the training and what underlings like Kodai and Bask ended up doing with them. However, Nanbu was more passive than Hoto was about it, despite his laziness, and the sharp-shooter more often than not made the decisions. Though at rare times, it went up for a brief discussion like now.

"More materials in Kilika," Hoto's bottom eyelids crinkled, "And you know he's just trying to start up trouble with Trenraka."

"Ah," Nanbu smiled knowingly, "I see how it is, Hoto."

"Pah," Hoto looked over at Kodai, "Where are you planning on taking them after Bask is done with them? You will pick up after a month's training from Bask and get whatever he didn't blow up."

The last bit had the five cadets frowning, and gulping, with imaginations flaring up about the maniacal pale faced Alchemist, whose explosions could be heard across the base in the middle of the day.

"In Kilika," Kodai narrowed his yellow eyes a bit, "I'll train them a couple of weeks in Kilika after the Alchemist is done with them. The element of fire is best taught in Kilika I've come to find, what with the Aeon that's associated with it. Then Djose temple for lightning associated spells, I suppose, after I'm done with them in Kilika, then Mt. Gagazet for Black Magic training in the element of ice… I should probably teach them water spells in the Moon flow before heading to the mountains. Of course, if you disagree-"

Hoto scratched the side of his neck and sighed heavily, his inverted dark eyes locked with the bright unmoving ones, "I suppose it's fine as long as Bask doesn't follow you…to the Moonflow at the very least..."

"You have my word Captain," Kodai dipped his head a little and then looked back up, his yellow gold eyes focused on his face still.

"I take it you two have a mission soon," Kodai lowered his voice, though the boys could still hear them but pretended not to as Sano slowly 'examined' the ammo, Uno unloaded his firearm, Groto studied the field, Jac wiped harder at the barrel of his weapon, and Itgu took interest in picking the right gun from the back rack after setting aside the boot polish.

"That's right, Nanbu and I do," Hoto looked at the boys then shrugged, "It will take a while I suspect, so they're all yours to do what you like."

Nanbu crossed his arms over his broad chest and added, "But for no more than three months. If not earlier." He was more accurate with the time having paid more attention then Hoto at the briefing, "Then, they're right back here in this base so Hoto and I can start advance training."

"I also presume that Bask and I can have an apprentice from this group?" Kodai raised his voice, letting out a more annoyed tone than intended, as if he had been waiting for an apprentice for some time now at the mercy of the two Captains.

Nanbu looked down at Uno and Hoto snuck a quick glance at Sano, unnoticed by most except Jac, who growled under his breath.

"If any of them show a skill in magic, then they're yours," Hoto nodded and Kodai seemed satisfied if not please with it.

"Oh~!" An all too familiar voice also chimed in, "Did you say I get an little apprentice all to myself?"

"You can't have one and you know why," Hoto seemed actually angry at what came from his own lips, despite his dislike towards the Alchemist. The boys' interest picked up, especially when Bask flicked up his dark shades with his bony fore-finger and, rather serious face, answered.

"Oh, yes, yes," Bask then broke into a thin grin, "But oh~ how I would love it. You know? I can teach them all about Alchemy, yes, and the power of all the interesting little bombs one can create…"

He trailed off, mumbling crazily about all the things one can do with Alchemy, before Hoto coughed into his fist and brought him back from whatever world he managed to slip into.

"I'll see if it can be put up for discussion again…"

"Oh goody~!" Bask replied, sending chills down the boys' arms and spines. If he was allowed an apprentice, which unlucky one of them would fill that probably dangerous role? they wondered with dread.

"Hmm," Kodai simply murmured, and having no other business there, quickly asked for his leave with a polite bow in his head.

"Yeah," Hoto half-heartedly answered, apparently not to happy with the continued presence of the overly joyous Alchemist, "You can go."

Bask shrugged off a stony sneer from Kodai before smiling wider, "Oh, another thing, Hoto, sir-?"

"Yes?" the Captain lifted a corner of his mouth in a snarl, actually repressing his urges to hit the annoying man from the start, "Bask, what?"

"I want to start tomorrow, since you and Nanbu are getting booted away in two days anyways," Bask received a curt nod and he clasped his hands with a smile, "Excellent!"

The boys groaned at the though of, for as much as three whole months, being stuck with the two worse instructors ever.

"Now that's not nice!" Bask, despite his hurt tone, continued grinning, "We'll have so much fun, you know. I'll teach you the basics of Potions distilling and creating items and a whole gaggle of useful things! Not only that, I'll teach you to mix powders for unique grenades-"

Sano smiled a bit. Even if he didn't like the man teaching such things, that skill sounded extremely…dare he even think it…fun.

"There now," Apparently the other boys seemed to have similar reactions with the news, and Bask clapped his hands in joy, "That's better!"

"Break off now," Hoto lifted his boot finally and kicked the butt into the dirt, "Go pack your bags ladies."


	4. First Exercise

**By Stormytitan**

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><p>Kilika, with its yellow beaches, tanned locals, palm trees that swayed and the beautiful, powerful, surging ocean.<p>

"Ooooohhhh," Uno, green-faced, leaned over the edge of the boat by his waist while he choked back vomit, "When will it stoooppp…?"

The boat took another dip against the waves and he burped and slapped a hand over his mouth, his head flinging forward again as his sick stomach demanded.

He was used to water, having grown up besides the lake and all, but nothing could prepare him for the heaving motion of the sea or the rocking of the large vessel that carried him over it. His head was reeling after finishing up his latest bit of sea-sickness (having had many attacks on this trip to Kilika Island). He let his heavy head simply thunk against the gunwales, and watched the deep green-blue water, the bubbles showing white against the peaks of the waves, before he felt the dizzy tremor that signaled another nausea spell.

An excited high-pitched voice shouted, "We're almost there!"

Jac's feet pelted the planks of the boat before crashing into the railing, threatening to spill over the side had he not brought his hands up to catch the rails at the last moment, before he leaned over the edge for a better view. He smiled wide at Uno, almost ignoring the fact that he was suffering from sea-sickness again, before yelling happily, "Can you see it?"

Uno could only reply, "Yaa-ghh…"

Jac turned his head towards the prow of the ship, shouting, and hoping for a more better reaction, "Sano! Can you see the dock too?"

Sano, standing with his arms crossed over his chest, the salty wind blowing past him as he faced the sea, nodded his head as a response. Indeed, the boy could see the famous dock, and the vast stretch of jungle that made the island as well for that matter. His eyes trailed the wild growth of green, to the center, where a towering, formidable, and almost daunting mountain rose forth cradling the impressive white Temple in its bosom. He could also see the bright beaches and wooden huts dotting the edges of the island between high-rising rocks, the locals tending to things amongst them, and projecting a magnanimous nature.

Could he see the dock?-of course! But that was nothing compared to everything else the panorama of Kilika Island had to offer his senses.

"It is quite a view." Sano levelly answer Jac, who couldn't hear him anyways as he babbled excitedly to the unusually subdued Uno against the railing.

"Wooo!" Itgu raced from the stern to the front, his arms held straight and pointing in the air, as he busted the peaceful air with his hollering, "That's what I'm talking about!"

He continued to yell about the impressive landscape until he simply had nothing more to say, and opted for running in circles along the ships length, triumphantly screaming about the approaching island. He jubilantly hassled the crewmen to hurry the ship along to the dock, before jumping up and kicking the air in pure bliss.

Everyone in cold northern Bevelle, from child, to adults, to retired elderly folk, talked of visiting the warm-watered southern island of Kilika (even with the threat of an attack from Sin) and now, somehow, the boys were presented with the very chance of spending an entire month on the island! And it was looming closer as Itgu continued to dance about it.

The palm trees swaying gently and the sound of laughing children running along the length of the dock attracted the rest of the boys' attention and made them tingle with excitement. Though they didn't prance around as Itgu did, they felt in their souls as if they could, and were doing so. Their eyes swept over the perfect scene of tropic brilliance, missing no detail, as the boat glided closer.

Sano sniffed in the ocean air, a warmer friendlier smell than that of the cold sea waters of Bevelle, before distinctly detecting the taste of jungle earth. Uno, his eyes glued to the piece of land, was only thankful that his suffering was ending soon.

"Now, now, little Chickens!" Bask clucked his tongue once to rally their wildly failing attentions to himself. The boys, only partially unintentional, frowned at his presence that they had gladly ignored during the entire trip over land and then sea.

It was almost a spoil on their fun as they were reminded who was in charge of their stay there. He and his oddity strolled to the front of the ship, his skeletal arms tucked neatly behind his back, and his wide grin leering in their direction as he obliviously continued, "Don't run off on me. I only have a month to train you in the basics of a most essential art," His smile stretched, "-Alchemy. So, I think you should know that I plan on starting right away. There will be no time for dawdling or sight-seeing, I'm afraid."

As far as the boys had figured, with the little stunt Bask had pulled with the two Captains in letting them have fun swimming, he'd be a little less, well, focused on actually training them. His announcement was both a surprise and a shocking disappointment.

"That's no fun at all," Itgu moaned ruefully, and looked behind him at the Alchemist who flicked his black shades up his nose with an unmistakably hungry grin.

"Oh, my dear chickens," Bask all but cooed, "This isn't going to be fun, but _very _educational."

The dock edged closer and Bask almost prickled up happily. The boys suddenly felt apprehensively suspicious and a few plucks of fear as they stared at his black shades, darker under the hot tropical sun hanging above, and the papery white skin that was cracked open to reveal a huge smile. It was clear the instructor was deep in thought, and as the boys dreaded, with some cruel first exercise for them.

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><p>"You want us-" Uno's voice trailed off as he looked down, before audibly gulping for all to hear.<p>

"That's right," Bask clasped his hands together, carefully knitting his bony fingers between each other, "I want you to jump down this cliff. And do it fast so I don't get to bored in waiting for you."

"Why, with all of Spira's good sense, would we do that for?" Sano peered over the tall cliff, a half-step to Uno's side, to see the jagged rocks below as the chubby boy did. The ocean was calm, considering, but a terribly revealing dark blue, and the white-tipped waves were still crashing into the sheer cliff overlooking the view with giant cries of splashing. Sano swallowed, hiding the sound, before looking at the instructor with a glare, "What does this have to do with Alchemy?"

"Oh, you'll probably find out as soon as you do it," Bask smiled and made a 'shoo-shoo' motion with his hand, "Now go on, one of you."

The boys, their arms subconsciously clinging to the one beside them, inched forward in clumsy unison to peer over the edge together. Suddenly, the surface rose in their mind's eyes to a roaring, frothy wave that slammed against the cliff menacingly, leaving it to tremble, and surely swept up anything with it to drown or beat against the rock wall.

Itgu turned to look back at the instructor, who was straight mouthed for once and tapping his foot impatiently. He had to scream, to be heard over the wind blowing strongly past them suddenly, but he voiced himself well enough, "ARE YOU CRAZY?!"

Bask thought for a moment, before cackling madly and stepping forward. He leaned in behind the line of boys, so his chortling voice could be heard, as he sporadically managed to spit out, "Crazy? Crazy! Of _course _it's crazy to jump off a cliff for the reason that someone told you to do it! But don't you see? Crazy is just what the army expects of you! Of any rank, or any subdivision, it is this way. Now this is an order, jump off this cliff…now."

The boys dared to glance at each other, the sun behind them and suspended just over the horizon of the ocean they were told, and apparently truly expected, to leap into.

"Or are you boys telling me you are all cowards?" Bask smiled at the reaction that rippled through the boys. Uno instantly prickled and stood taller, his bubbly face hardening and becoming angry, determined. Itgu scoffed haughtily, insulted, while Groto ducked his head, shame-faced. Sano had the most subtle reaction, simply blinking a bit, clearly caught off guard and surprised. Jac however, showed the best and most entertaining response.

"Oh, let me through," Jac turned around, pushing Groto and Itgu's shoulders off of him to step through and decidedly forward to the edge. Despite his bravery, he hesitated on the last couple of inches, before he sucked in a sharp gasp of breath and leaped out into the air. With eyes screwed shut, and a curse out of his lips, he plummeted straight-bodied and legs-first towards the dark water.

After what seemed like forever of falling, he hit the water with incredible force. No head popped up for some seconds, causing the boys to fearfully scan over the water and their hearts to skip a beat, before a water-darkened orange head shot out of the surface of the waves.

The boys let out a sigh of relief that the crazy idea might not mean the death of them after all.

"Go now, Trenraka," Bask prompted and poked the skinny shoulder of the boy he addressed, "I think you should be next~!"

"Explain what this has to do with Alchemy first!" Sano spun around but felt the ground loosen as he did so. The boys beside him yelped and jumped away from him, closer to the instructor, and widened their eyes in horror as a tumble of brown and green earth fell out from beneath Sano, taking him with. Sano screamed as he fell down into the immense blue with a splash that made him temporarily deaf and left his back searing with pain.

The bubbles encircled his head, blinding his thin desperately searching eyes, before his sore arms reached out and clawed at the water, all the while kicking with all his might. When his head broke surface, he sputtered the water out from his nose that he had accidentally swallowed with a painful heave, coughing hoarsely, before swallowing more again as Itgu came crashing down into the water nearly on top of him.

After spitting out his salty mouthful, he acidly hissed to the dark brown headed boy, "Watch what you're-!"

A red headed and freckled face boy came flailing between them, forcing water into each of their angrily opened mouth and eyes, as Groto finished his journey from wind to water.

Above, Uno hesitated greatly on the uneven edge, wringing his hands nervously. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't urge his own flat feet any farther than where they had planted themselves.

"Your turn Mydo-boy!" Bask gleefully announced, smiling rather evilly, and with a wraith-like motion stepped forward to the side of Uno to guide him to the ledge. Looking directly down again, the height from the cliff to the water grew immensely, gaining feet by the hundreds in the dim black eyes of the boy that stared at them. Despite the safe passage that his friends managed, Uno continued to wring his hands and doubtfully watch them bobbing, seemingly unhurt, against the pulsing surface of blue.

"I's can't do this," Uno shook his head vigorously, his chunky jowls jiggling with the motion, and took a big step back. However, cold clammy hands caught his shoulders before he could turn around.

"Look, not a single person in the Assassin's Corp carried away the honor for nothing, Mydo-boy. I myself worked hard and showed myself to be steel-gutted wherever I could. I say this, because if you can't handle this one little thing, than you are _not _to be in the Corp, got it?" Bask hissed in his ear and pushed him forward, forcing him to teeter on the edge, facing out into the air, "Now jump, or forever be a coward!"

When the insult was renewed, so was the passing angry determination that Uno experienced. He whirled around, barely balanced on the crumbling edge, before shouting, "I ain't no coward!-uh, uh, uh!"

Uno realized too late that he lost his balance, and flapped his arms wildly in the air before falling backwards into the whirling wind. He instinctively turned in the air, and instantly regretted it.

As the shadow of the huge boy grew over the ocean water, the other boys scrambled to get out of the way with little cries of their own. And as Uno's long drawn out yell abruptly ended, they winced and responded with an 'Ooh!' for his pains.

His large belly caught the surface of the waves with a loud slap, and his body floated on top of the water for a long second, a painful sting coursing across his front, and a particular tender 'front' spot that had become so when he hit puberty, before he sank slowly below the blue. A few cooling moments under water and he popped back up achingly with a salty tear in the corner of his eye.

"Good~Boys!" Bask called to them from atop the impossible-to-climb cliff with a wide grin they could see from all the way down there. His tone was far too cheery and they shivered even in the warm water, "Now find a way to get to the Temple…all on your own!"

"Wha-?" Sano opened his mouth wide but a large wave crashed into his gaping jaw and left him coughing.

"You're insane!" Jac kicked powerfully and pushed himself high out of the water as he shouted, "There isn't even a beach to climb up on or anything!"

"Oh, swim some and you _might_ find one close by," Bask backed away from the edge of the cliff, out of view, with a loud cackle, "If you can't make it to the Temple by sunrise, then you're out of the Assassin's Corp! Not that you're in it yet to begin with…Ha ha ha! Best of luck, Boys!"

"No!" Uno jolted with a bob in the water, "Don't go!"

The wind whistled past the cliff's face but no new hyena-laugh met them but the echoes of the last. Bask was gone, where to, they didn't know, but apparently the journey from the water, through the jungle, and up to the Temple was their's alone.

"Well…shit," Sano, with his practiced ease as a swimmer, began to paddle through the slight chop, though it had been so long ago that he swam in deep waters, and the waves were surely different from the calm of the Moonflow. The effect was clumsy, though he looked more graceful than the other boys, "I guess we'll start this way."

Jac pursed his lips, his hands treading water to keep him afloat and still, and he ground out viciously, "Who made _you_ in charge? I say this way!"

Sano sighed raggedly, and stopped, treading water as well to face the other boys, "Fine…have it your way. But I'm sure everyone else is going to go my way if you gave them a choice."

"Is that right?" Jac sneered, "Well, I wouldn't suppose you're brave enough to ask them, huh?"

"I say that I should be group leader," Itgu gave a wolfish grin and raised his hand in the water.

"No," Groto said solidly before blushing at their faces that turned to look at him, Itgu's particularly mad, before he timidly sputtered, "Er…I-I think it should be Jac. H-he is a-always right."

"That's right," Jac nodded, clearly pleased with the words, before turning to Uno, "Isn't that right, Mydo?"

Sano scowled deeply. He hardly cared what they thought of him usually, but amazingly, a bit of his pride was hurting from the fact that they didn't find him capable of leading them to the Temple.

"Weeelll-"

Sano raised his eyes from the water to look at Uno, who was in the process of thinking very seriously, and apparently oblivious to the role he would play with his answer. He made things harder, though a balm to Sano's hurting pride, with his truthful statement of, "Sano ain't never been wrong yet either."

"Good point," Sano smiled at the shorter fat boy in front of him, earning an overly hopeful smile back, before nodding his head, "So, I think we should go this way since I win this argument."

"You win nothing!" Jac took up a mouthful of water and spat it at the smug olive-toned face, "We have even amounts of people!"

At the same time, the two 'leaders' turned to the last boy, "Itgu?"

"I still say me," Itgu smirked at their agitated faces, "You know I make better leaders than you two lil' wimps."

"Oh, please, spare me that. What in this wide world makes you think that you'd make a good leader?" Sano slapped the water and sent a wave his way. He smiled sharply when Itgu started to cough and haughtily lifted his chin, "I am no weakling. I'm intelligent. And as Uno pointed out, I haven't been wrong, yet."

"Just because you have a strong vocabulary doesn't make you strong," Itgu narrowed his eyes and wiped under them to free the salt out that stung them, "I win against you every single time we spar!"

"With what you're saying, shouldn't I be leader?" Jac's brows pushed down into his red-brown eyes and he stared daggers at both Sano and Itgu.

Sano frowned deeply, and growled, "That has little to do with decision making."

"Guys," Uno looked up at the sky, "It's getting late, let's just swim _somewhere _an' find a shore already."

"Fine," Jac gave in first, "Have it your way…Sano."

"Whatever," Itgu scoffed and rolled his eyes, giving in begrudgingly, "But I'm the leader when we get onto land."

"Screw you…" Sano pinched his eyelids almost closed, his glare pointed at the peach colored face.

"No, screw you! As soon as this is over-!" Itgu began poisonously before a sigh, an exasperated and a heartfelt sound of confusion that they all shared deep down, interrupted them by accident. Groto blushed a bit before he muttered, "What does _this_ have to do with Alchemy?"

"Good question," Sano spat out water again and began kicking after the red head bobbing in the water, who was already swimming earnestly towards the direction that Jac had pointed out earlier.

In the deep crimson haze that was the dusk sun, the water gradually turned a dark golden, like Jac's water-logged hair, and the waves grew in length to slam against them as they all stroked out towards what they hoped to be a beach.

* * *

><p>Heaving in large bites of air, Uno coughed from exhaustion at swimming for so long. His limbs, lungs, and eyes hurt, and the dark sky above brought no comfort to his tired body as it amplified the creaking chattering jungle lining one edge of the beach. He plopped headfirst against the sand, finding it uncomfortable as the grains instantly stuck to his sopping form, and breathed slowly, drained.<p>

Jac sat up from the damp beach and sneezed, coldness clinging to him. Sano rubbed his own arms to try and fight the chill, but like the others, the ocean's bite still got underneath his skin. The air was warm but the water was cold, now that it was night, and still clung to them as they dragged themselves away from the surf; the warm breeze did little but freeze them more.

"W-when we f-find Bask," Jac let his head flop into his shoulders, his hands propping him up sinking into the sand, "L-let's d-dig a hole and b-bury him in it…"

"I concur," Sano said quickly before sucking in more air, water dripping off the end of his straight long nose as he lifted himself from laying belly down into the sand as Uno had done, "However," He took a swallow of air, his salt-battered throat closing in around the sweet oxygen painfully, before he continued with chattering teeth, L-let's g-get to the t-temple, first."

Itgu stood up, stomping at the sand with his sore legs, and jamming his wrinkly hands into his armpits to warm them, "Well, I'm the leader now. So, let's go already."

The other boys looked up at him sleepily, no one seemingly trying to challenge him when they had no strength.

"Aw, wait a minute," Uno spoke up first, puffing, before he reluctantly got up as the other boys rose to follow Itgu toward the thick wall of jungle trees. Shaking off the sand, he started to plod after them, moaning further, "Do we's have too?"

Jac nodded, clearly thinking as he watched each foot carefully sink in the yellow sand, adding, "Before a fiend finds us."

Uno noticed how his legs were shaking, and how it was like carrying a load of lead on each of his limbs, before he grumbled dismally, "A fiend will find us even if we's are moving."

"Don't worry," Sano, sand still sticking to his shirt front, stumbled after him and hurriedly stepped to his side, "If we get to the temple soon, then we don't have to worry. They're always guardsman around the Kilikan Temple, I heard, so if it's true, we'll be safe."

"Damn that Bask!" Jac frowned and struggled to get in front of Itgu, despite his claims of leadership, "I'm cold, already hungry, and tired! Not to mention that all we have are 'if's' and not a bit of idea to where the Temple is!"

Itgu snorted out sea water from his nose, wincing, before walking beside Jac, an eye placed on the fair-haired boy arrogantly as he said, "_I_ know where the Temple is."

He took his time in stepping ahead of all the boys, Groto nervously stepping beside Jac and in front of Sano and Uno, out of habit mostly, the line created forming a physical display of their social-chain. Itgu smiled at the line, and boldly stepped in front of them all, claiming 'leadership' with no objections as the boys waited for him to talk, before he importantly pointed up to the tall looming shadow against the painted night sky, "The mountain in the center of the island. That's why you have to climb so many stairs to get up to it."

"Climb?" Uno was raggedly exhausted as it was and he didn't seem to like the idea of any climbing, "Do we's have tah do that too?"

"Stop complaining," Sano narrowed his eyes at him and skimmed his vision over the others before landing on Itgu, "But, do you happen to have a little more knowledge on the subject?"

Itgu bristled, "What do you mean?"

"I saw the Temple on the mountain too, as we came into the port. Do you think we're blind? But how do we get _there _from _here_?" Sano pointed at the ground which they stood and to the dark mountain rising ominously for emphasis.

Itgu blinked and his jaw tightened, his hands curling into shivering fists at his sides.

"Like you know more than me!" He shouted suddenly into Sano's face. The other boy flinched, before sneering back.

"_I _do know that we have to go now or we'll be stuck out here over night."

"It's already night!" Jac pointed out and stomped, sand flying up in a circle around his planted foot, "We might as well sleep on the beach! It's no use traveling in the jungle during the night. There are probably fiends everywhere!"

"Well," Sano crinkled the space between his eyes, "You make a good point, but I don't want to quit this…thing quite yet, do you?"

Silence traveled between the boys but looks were exchanged. No, they all worked so hard, doing three times more than what other boys were doing. This wasn't something to turn away from just because a couple of fiends _might_ find them.

Uno moved toward the creaking, chattering, night-soaked woods with the other boys close behind him, subconsciously using him as a human shield, before hopping back at a growl from the trees. Nothing came out, but he still didn't want to near it anymore.

Sano stepped up, muttering something about 'cowards' and was first through the leaves that his hands brushed out of his way, his water-logged boots pressing into the foliage. The others followed, none wanting to be alone on the beach, and they made a line through the darkness, no path to guide them.

* * *

><p>It was too dark to not notice the glow ahead of them. They smiled up at the light that must've been the Temple, but they despaired as Itgu, the head of the pack as he wanted and complained loudly about until he got his way, crashed his nose solidly into a cliff face. He lifted his hand away from under his chin, cupping a palm-full of blood that exploded from his nose after impact, and looked up, the lights too far away and the cliff as steep as the one from the ocean.<p>

Sano squinted, the only one actually getting any visibility from the crescent moon-lighted night, and sighed weightily.

"It keeps going on in both directions," His mouth curled downward, and he lifted his slanted eyes to the rising surface and the dim orange twinkling fire up at the top, "Those lights have to be the temple...Maybe we should attempt to scale the-"

"Are you crazy?" Groto's voice squeaked, "We can't do that!"

"Why not?" Sano put his foot in a hold on the face and grabbed up at the rock, "Use the moon to guide us up, we can't wait for the sun."

"But what if we fall?" Groto gulped loud enough to be heard over the loud growls and snaps of the woods, "We'll die!"

"Do you want to get to the temple or not?" Sano looked down over his shoulder, at the eyes staring doubtfully at the upward rising and jagged cliff, and frowned at Groto, "I'd rather risk a nasty fall then fail to get a simple task done."

"Fine," Jac shrugged and pressed his body tight against the wall and started to shuffle up, "We'll do it, but if I die, I'll be the worst fiend you've ever seen and I swear, I'll get you."

Sano smirked and jumped up to a ridge and felt the sides of it bite into his fingers.

Uno, heaving every breath in his attempt up, started to catch up with the others. Itgu sighed and gave in, cursing as his leadership was wrenched from him again, and he blindly felt his way up. Groto muttered a prayer and started last. They felt their way along, only Sano having minimal sight as they made a dangerous trail upward.

Sixty feet above the ground, a shaky ledge of rocks crumbled and slipped from underneath Uno's weight.

He yelped and dangled by one hand, his feet scrapping on the rock face to try and get a new foot hold, and his other arm flapping in the air and against the smooth plane of rock. Jac turned slightly and tried to grasp his other hand but overstretched himself, missed Uno's hand, and flew forward. Too much motion and weight yanked his other hand free from the handhold and he yelped and desperately caught Uno's legs with both his arms as he fell, swinging them both with his force into the wall and bumped into it painfully.

Jac took a couple of harsh breaths and screamed.

"Jac! Uno!" Groto yelled upward as rocks from their slight tumble pelted his pale face, "Sano! Help them!"

Sano swung down, hearing the urgency in the boy's voice and the clacking of rocks against rock, and let himself slide down a short length of the cliff, before bouncing on his knees against a ridge. He seemed to stay there a moment, before the last part of his bounce made him lean too far back, and his arms fumbled before he fell off of the rocks and down into Itgu.

A gasp escaped from both of them before Itgu's grip loosened and they came plunging down to the dark grass below. Uno's free hand snapped out to try and grab the two bodies falling only to lose his other grip. Jac screamed as he felt Uno and himself fall freely into the darkness below.

"GUYS!" Groto hoarsely called out as they fell past him in a ball of limbs that surely would be broken when they landed.

_**CRACK!**_

"GUUUYYYYSSSS!"


	5. What Alchemy Can Teach

**By Stormytitan**

* * *

><p>Warm sunlight hit him full in the face.<p>

Uno slowly lifted his sore swollen eyelids to see the dust motes floating in the bar of light from outside the tent that housed them. He lifted his head, groaned and looked around. His friends, minus Groto, slept and wheezed under white linen sheets, wonderfully light weight, with wrapped heads, arms, and Itgu's leg.

"Well~ Well!" The tent flap was pushed open farther as a familiar tall and skinny form entered, "I didn't expect you up so early, Mydo-boy. Color me…_impressed._"

"Bask!" Uno shot up fully, winced, before sputtering, "Wha-what happened to us?"

"You took a tumble right outside my little base," Bask gestured outside with a smooth wave of his bony wrist before he stepped fully into the tent and walked over to a table and emptied his pockets into a stone bowl.

Marble of different shades clattered into the bowl with clunks that grew louder as more was dropped into it. Uno took in a couple of breaths of warm air, pleasantly filling the tent through the flap that was carelessly left unfastened, and a slight outer breeze brushed through his thick matted hair through the same opening.

"Are we's in…the Temple?" Uno said after some time, his tone doubtful as he looked at the canvas ceiling, completely different from the cold dingy stone that was in the Bevelle Temple. Of course, he had never been to the Kilika temple before, or any other Temple besides Bevelle's for that matter, so he didn't know if it was supposed to be different.

"Nope~!" Bask flicked up his dark shades before grinning, "They, the monks I mean, wouldn't let me in."

Bask sighed airily, almost dreamily, before muttering to the stone bowl he leaned over, "Even with the signed paper from Captain Hoto they wouldn't let this poor Alchemist in. One must wonder what this poor Alchemist has every done to them, but then one remembers…Aw, well…"

"Hmm?" Uno raised a thick black eyebrow, causing a slight twinge of pain in his head, "What are youse saying?"

Bask shrugged and suddenly was pulled from his creepy mumbling state to one that was almost…normal.

"I always had a workshop set up behind here anyways," He said, as if nothing was spoken about the Temple, before casually turning, his nose pulled up slightly in a crinkle, as he looked at his 'workshop'.

He took a long pale finger and rubbed at the stony wall that made up one side of the little area. Green moss clung to his fingers but didn't quite disconnect from the stone either. He muttered in slight distaste from the green smear on his white finger, "It hasn't been used in a little under a year because of the recruiting and work I was doing in Bevelle."

"Oh," Uno lowered his shoulders, having found them tense. He never was comfortable around the Alchemist, but as the man worked with the bowl of marbles, pulling things from shelves that lined the wall beside the stone one, and poured things into clear beakers, Uno momentarily forgot about all his creepiness.

Bask was focused almost to the point that Uno was sure he didn't notice him staring, or know that he was even there anymore, but that thought was dashed away as the Alchemist turned and chortled.

"It's rude to stare Mydo-boy." When Uno quickly turned his head down to his sheet covered knees, Bask's chortle turned into a cackle, one so loud that Uno was surprised that the rest could remain sleeping as they were. "Oh don't worry~ Mydo-boy! I really don't mind! I was only joking."

Uno awkwardly lifted one corner of his lips before letting it fall as Bask turned back to the table, his hands moving over the various items. Uno contemplated whether or not to get up, considering it seemed to hurt in different places when he moved, but also it seemed bad manners not to offer to help with whatever the instructor was doing now that he was awake. He stopped worrying when Bask's voice slid through the air.

"How is your head, Mydo-boy?" Bask used his fingers to shift his glasses up again, pinching the shade's side to push it up, "Do you need anymore potion? I have plenty for the pain if you're in any."

"Potion?" Uno felt his hand rub his temple involuntarily to the mention of pain, "Did youse…" His eyes moved over the shiny bottles littering the work table, "…make it?"

"I did," Bask did not trouble himself to hide the tone of pride and promptly picked up a glass beaker and took a blue-white marble from the stone bowl as he said, "I'm making more as we speak."

"Marbles?" Uno watched the long fingers pop open a orange-tinged glass bottle and pour only a bit of brown liquid into the beaker that the marble sat in. The liquid covered only half of the marble and Bask lifted it up to swirl the marble around in the liquid with twirls of his wrist. The marble changed to a pale colorless shade while the liquid in the beaker turned lighter and lighter until a familiar shade of blue met Uno's eyes.

Uno shook his aching head and tried to ask his question again, only more clearly, "I's didn't know they's used marbles to make potions."

"Marbles are a child's play things made of glass." Bask laughed at Uno's blundering face, trying to find something intelligent to say to save himself from embarrassment and failing miserably, before the Alchemist himself saved him, "These marbles have powers though, as you can tell."

Bask lowered the beaker and fished out a handful of dark blue-green marbles and dropped them in, his other hand pouring in more liquids from other bottles, "The power of the elements are within them, understand? But they aren't like the marbles you're thinking of. Though, incidentally, they are still called 'marbles' because of the way they look."

"Oh," Uno watched Bask pull a long thin reed stick from a jar of more sticks just like it. He stuck the stick in the beaker and sloshed the liquid and new marbles around it, the marbles crashing into the beaker's sides and made loud 'clink' sounds as they collided with the glass.

Bask looked at the lighter blue solution before sticking another blue-white marble in. The potion seemed to be steaming but Uno could tell from the glass, and the frost spreading over it, that it was really cold.

Bask poured some nasty green liquid into it next before snatching a red marble from the stone bowl. He dropped it in with a plop, and Uno could've swore he saw a flame flash in the center of the potion in creation before being distinguished by an icy cloud from the solution itself. There was no change in the liquid's color this time, though it did glow warmly instead of holding a cold icy dimness. The boy shook his head as Bask then fished out the colorless old marbles and added one small yellow marble, sparks flying from it, and shook the beaker from side to side before the blue glowing potion was shimmering with light.

"And a fresh potion for you, Mydo-boy," Bask said something at last as he dumped the liquid into a clay cup, straining the marble out, "Come and drink it if you can get up."

Uno rose, sorely, and limped over to the table. He took his time to get over and he studied his surroundings well.

One wall, the back, was made of stone and housed a fireplace that now had something boiling over the crackling flames. The front wall was canvas, as well as the left, but the right wall was seemingly just a tangle of tree limbs closely knitted together in a mesh of brown and mossy green. Shelves of wood stood in front of the mesh and held bowls, cups, clear beakers, colored glass bottles, and strange herbs, potions, and items. There was a table with more clean beakers, twisted tubes that dripped liquid into smaller containers and a pestle and bowls with powder, decorating as well as cluttering the tabletop beside the shelves. The floor was dust and swept clean into soft particles, straw mats laying lightly on top of them. Everything in the space seemed to have cobwebs, moss, algae, and time coated on it, but the air was pleasant if not a bit homey.

"Drink this up, Mydo-boy," Bask handed the clay cup into his chunky hands, "Go on, I'm trying to get you up so we can start training with you boys on a full bill of health."

"It's your fault," Uno grumbled and frowned, "Youse the one that left us in the water!"

"Well," Bask smiled, "It is the way my master taught me, so it's the way I'm teaching you. There was a purpose for all that I promise you!" And perhaps this wasn't meant for Uno to hear though he did anyways, "I just didn't expect everyone to do so poorly at it."

"What did all that haveta do with Alchemy anyways?" Uno looked at the cold cup, choosing to ignore the last bit of the Alchemist's words, "Why did we's have to walk through the jungle at night?"

"Alchemy is the clever use of items, and the skills of mixing and creating, that will benefit you in either battles or healing," Bask stretched his long black polished finger to the cup rim, tapping on it and motioning for the boy to drink. "In the woods, you were surrounded by things that could've helped you, but you didn't even realize it.

"What?" Uno sipped and energy surged through his chest, but the taste was different from potions he had before, it was better almost, and he definitely felt he effects a lot faster, "What stuff?"

"Marbles, for instance," Bask snapped his fingers and pointed at the bowl, "Elements shed these things all the time. It's like sweat for them."

"Fiend sweat?" Uno gulped the last bit and remembered the marbles dropped into the mixture, "Guh!"

"Just drink it, Mydo-boy," Bask frowned, "Now."

"O-okay," Uno answered uncertainly, staring at the adult's serious face, before he closed his eyes and dumped the rest in his mouth, feeling the bruises leave him. He twitched at the thought of fiend sweat in his body and replied, "Gross," but it did make him feel better.

"Bask, sir!" Groto ran into the workshop carrying handfuls of grayish mess in his arms, "Are they okay now!?"

"Oh that cobweb is no good at all, so pale in color…It needs to be darker, like a bad storm is coming type of gray." Bask said as his only response and passed two cups wordlessly into the already full hands of Groto, then he took one in his own pale hand, and motioned his head to the boys sleeping under the sheets, "I'll get Jac."

"Okay," Groto dumped the worthless gray stuff on the ground and handed one cup to Uno who reached out to help him. They crossed the small space behind their instructor and knelt the ground where the boys were resting and began to try and coax the drink into their closed mouths.

Jac stirred in his sleep, his sheet pulled all the way to his chin, as Bask slipped the potion expertly into his unconscious lips. Red eyes flicked opened, and Bask lifted his head for the boy, bringing the cup back to his lips, for him to weakly swallow the rest of it. Bask spoke quietly to Jac, Uno unable to hear what over timid Groto fighting with Itgu who was awaken rudely by a hastily poured potion down his throat, before Uno shrugged and scooted across the floor to Sano with the third cup in his hand.

He touched the cup's rim to his mouth, not wanting to shake him awake in case it caused pain, and wanting to avoid what Groto had done to Itgu by letting only a little bit of potion slipped in at a time. The potion, too lightly pressed against the lips, dribbled down Sano's chin. Uno set his mouth firm and lifted Sano's head to a tilt, and tried again. The potion slipped into the crack between his lips and gathered against his tongue and in the bowl of his mouth. The sloshing it made woke him gently enough and he shifted a bit, swallowing. The thin slanted eyes creaked open and blinked before he moaned, "Where the hell are we, moron?"

Uno puffed out his cheeks and slanted the cup upwards to pour the entire contents of it into his companion's mouth.

Sano sat up and coughed at the blue sparkling potion that slid down his throat and clenched his stomach. Warmth spread through his body and he felt better within seconds.

"Ow," Sano rubbed his stomach and looked around, seemingly surprised at the place he found himself in.

His eyes drifted to the shelves where, from the cracks in the mesh wall, light streamed through the colored glass bottles and made shadows of tinted gleam against the dusty floor. The beakers were so clean and clear that not even a fingerprint could be seen on it through the light.

Sano sniffed, looking out of the corner of his eye at Bask, _A man so strange has an equally strange place for himself._

"Alright boys, head out," Bask pointed at the tent flap and Groto obediently ran out. Itgu rubbed his wrapped leg, now a sprain from a break, and limped out as Uno waited for Sano to get up and leave.

Before the daylight met his face, Sano turned around, "Are you coming Jac?"

He curled himself in the sheets and mumbled, "In a minute…"

"Alright," Sano glanced outside and let his shoulders give off a faint shrug, "Suit yourself."

* * *

><p>Jac, now fully dressed in his uniform, ventured out into the light and cringed at the brightness that burned his corneas.<p>

"Now," Bask, with his shades shielding him, stepped out and clapped his hands, "The first lesson of Alchemy is learned!"

"And what would that have been?" Sano grumpily crossed his arms, "Care to enlighten us, sir?"

"As humans, we need tools to operate, to _survive,_" Bask smiled, "It's not only a lesson of Alchemy but of life, I think. Without a single thing to help you, you'd be doomed to a terrible fate. Such as, without light, you fall down a risky cliff face. Or stumble around in a fiend filled forest. You'd be trapped to wait on the sun, to be primitive, but what if that wasn't an option? You'd need to have _something, _anything, to let you move on anyways, but if you didn't have that you'd be trapped by the unyielding power of the sun and nature. And if you don't have something, and it isn't around for you to seize, what do you do?"

The boys were listening intently but they offered no answer, even as they realized that Bask was waiting for one. In all truths, they weren't really following what he was raving about.

Bask gasped, clearly excited to explain his craft yet surprised that the boys didn't understand, "Don't you boys see? Man's only gift is that to _create_. Even if it is the most simplest of tools, it allows him to live, to be truly free, unbound by other elements. Tell me you did learn this well? Wouldn't the journey have been an immensely easier one if you had light with you? Wouldn't it have been easier on you that, once you were tired, you simply sipped a little potion to liven you up? Wouldn't it have been easier to make a weapon to trudge safely through the brush filled with fiends instead of flinching at every cracking twig and losing precious time?"

The boys remained silent, their faces red with shame that burned, yet they couldn't think of anything to say. In fact, it was safe to say they weren't entirely sure on what the instructor wanted them to learn out there. But, an inkling of understanding rose in their minds together, like a little bubble underwater.

"Ah me! I didn't expect you to do well, but all your blank stares are truly disheartening! You're only just boys after all, I know, but still- tell me you've retained something from that experience!" Bask lifted his hands up in the air, plastering a smile on his face once more, "Oh, of course you know that it was hard and there was always an easier way. That much almost didn't need to be taught, but ah-" He let his breath come out in one burst, prematurely ending his rant. Speaking softly, he said, "Come now, I'll teach you Man's Greatest Gift. I'll teach you to create, and to make life easier and safer."

They gathered closer after the Alchemist motioned for them to come, curious to what the oddest of the instructors had to offer them.

Bask pulled yellow feathers from his pouch, and assuming a teaching voice, asked clearly, "Tell me what these can do?"

"Chocobo feathers?" Groto twisted his face up in confusion, "What _do_ they do?"

"I heard they can cast Haste," Jac smiled, proud of himself from this knowledge he had picked up a long time ago and nearly forgotten.

"Right," Bask closed his bony fingers around them, "Now how do you make plain feathers cast a rather complicated spell?"

"Uhhh," The boys nearly all replied in unison. It was answered by a good-natured laugh, and the hyena cackle of Bask, "I'll tell you~! Listen, listen!"

Sano squinted his eyes, this was something new. As many books as he had read on warfare, conventional weapons, and martial arts, none of them mentioned Alchemy or mechanics, being mostly known for their Al Bhed participates and more often times than not, forbidden.

There were books on his father's shelf, so long ago, that were obviously forbidden against Yevon, having titles mentioning machina, enchanting ammo, and different subjects of a delicate science. Black tape was always there to hide the titles on the spines. Not to mention some more sacrilegious books that were stashed in a hide-away in the back of the shelf that tempted younger Sano who had found them by accident. Though, the forbidden aspect of it kept his fingers from actually ever touching them.

Now was his time to make up for lost knowledge he could've received then. Though, as soon as he got home to Mia again, he would go ahead and read them, he decided. Uno took to the lessons with the same enthusiasm, though it offered different results than either one of them would've expected.

The lesson went on and the boys learned quite a bit. Sano made his first potion, weak and only healing a scrape on Groto's knee, while Uno managed a nameless tonic that only made Itgu break into a fit of laughter as the bubbles tickled his stomach. Jac made a fairly good potion and Itgu fared as well as Groto did, who did about Sano's level of alchemy.

Even with the boys 'progress', or lacking of, Bask grinned wide and repeated the steps.

It went on for weeks like that. All of them sleeping in a dog pile on the floor of the workshop because the temple wouldn't let them in after hearing Bask's name. Whatever he did in the past, it must've been something terrible because they didn't even let him past his workshop, which was positioned at the bottom of the prominent rise that held the Temple pedestal-like above all the rest of Kilika, around the back and hidden from the village's and for the most part the temple's sight.

Another part of their routine was Bask leaving and going somewhere at night, never coming back that they saw as they dropped off to sleep, yet was always there without fail to wake them up in the morning. Upon curiosity, the boys wondered when he got back at all, never seeing him sleep before. They devised a plan, and finally put it into action on a warm tropical night about two weeks into their training in Kilika.

The boys, in their usual tangle, waited for Bask to slip back in after he saw them to 'bed' and swiftly left them. Their eyelids grew heavy and they exchanged jokes, pinches, and pokes to keep themselves awake before dropping down in pretend sleep when Bask came in the earliest moments before dawn.

Out of barely open eyes, all the boys watched as he leaned against the back stone wall, slid down it, and crossed his arms against his chest. His head bobbed down and his shoulders, in almost no time at all, began to rise and fall with sleep. The boys fell asleep soon after exchanging looks, and a mere five hours later was awaken with a cheery, "~Good Morning, my little chickens!"

As the days passed quickly, in no time at all, the end of the month neared, and they surprisingly learned so many things about Alchemy in that short period. It was actually funny that they felt they didn't want to leave their odd teacher by the end of it.

"Bask, Sir?" Groto bit into the crisp meat of the bird that Bask inexplicably acquired while they practiced refining their Cluster Bombs. They had already made basic explosives and were working on refining their skills into more complicated designs.

"Yes, chicken?" Bask lifted the silver flask he had and swallowed the purple liquid from his container with a wincing gulp.

"Why do you drink that?" Groto pointed his leather gloved finger toward the flask, "It looks like to me that you don't like it at all."

"I don't, Sedavan-boy," Bask wiped his pale lips and smeared a violet drop against the corner of his mouth, "It's medicine."

"Are you sick?" Groto tilted his head, one cheek puffing out with the crisp flesh. The man was bony, pale, and peculiar but had loads of energy. He wasn't a man you'd think would be sickly.

Bask flicked his glasses up, "Well, yes, in a way that has nothing to do with my health..."

Sano lifted his eyebrow, his elbows bent by his head and clutching a stick that held his avian dinner juicily on it, "Mind explaining that?"

"No, I'd prefer not too," Bask took a stick from the fire place and passed it to Jac, who waited patiently, "All the same in the end, right? As long as the medicine makes me 'better' than it's medicine."

Uno scrunched up his face, grease from the natural oils in the prey's body covering his chin and mouth, making them slightly shiny, "I don't get it."

"You don't have to, chicken," Bask turned another bird in the fire, it's skin roasting and popping against the licking flames that blackened its skin, "It doesn't really matter to understand it. Just focus on the Alchemy, eh?"

"I'm not really good at it," Uno admitted, his cheeks puffing with meat but his eyes falling to the floor despite the joy food usually brought him, "I ain't smart enough, I guess."

This was true with most of them, the only ones having skills in Alchemy were Sano, who managed explosives and simple items such as potions, and Jac, who very well may become an Alchemist and among other things since he always succeeded in everything he tried, including out sparring the others.

"Well, not everyone can be an Alchemist," Bask reasoned and moved back from the heat of the fire, taking his share of the meal with him. He took a bite, his teeth gnashing against the bird's delicate bones, before he spoke around the meat, his tone dreamy, "Oh, look at me, I'm getting nostalgic. Not long ago it seems that I was sitting here with my Master, eating rabbits."

"We got birds." Itgu raised his stick up, meat still clinging to it, like a sword.

"Brilliant observation," Bask smiled, his head shaking, "My, my, if I hadn't known any better I'd of thought that ingenious analysis came from Sano's direction."

The boys laughed, knowing sarcasm when they heard it, and Itgu joined them in the end after he quelled his temper by stuffing his face with more bird-meat.

All the boys, having lived with each other in the way that they did with Bask, became more friendly and worked better together under the Alchemist's guidance. They trapped food together, gathered plants, learned the art of Alchemy, battled tropical wind-storms together, and teamed up together for 'survival'. Even if the Temple was only thirty feet away.

They also learned tolerance for each boy's less redeemable qualities, which the boy's were becoming less likely to indulge in, and took more notice to each other's good traits. Uno, who was honestly the most socially shunned, positively reveled in this new form of camaraderie. Working hard, learning quickly, and laughing at night, made up the best time he'd ever had.

And it wasn't just amongst themselves, the way the boys knew and changed around their so-called teacher could be called surprising. They learned to stand his occasional weird behavior and discovered a respect for him. But, at the same time, they came across the fact that there was still so much they didn't know about the Alchemist, who they had become curious about, though less than a month ago they couldn't care less.

Bask wasn't one to share, only hinting at his past when he got 'nostalgic' and spoke of his Alchemy Master whom he lived with in this very workshop, living as they did. He was prone to some ramblings however, hissing mutterings that was almost frightening, whenever he looked up at the Temple for too long or the monks of Kilika were mentioned among them. It soon became a habit of the boys to avoid the subject, though in whispered secret they all wondered why Bask and the monks hated each other, near equally.

As Bask had said the first day, they, or more specifically he, was barred from the Temple. The reasons went unspoken, as the Alchemist said little about it, and the boys were used to not talking about it already.

Despite that, it did little to hinder them and their happily lived out routine. The boys worked together much like Bask had with his Master. They gathered plants, more often times than not finding more bugs to toss at each other than herbs and wild vegetables. The boys trapped, only once messing up and trapping Uno, and they learned Alchemy, some more than others, under 'The Mad-Alchemist Bask'.

The title, though fitting as it was at times, wasn't nearly as suiting to him as Alchemy Master, which the boys bestowed on him one evening in shouted cheers around the fire. Bask smiled, before pointing out that Yevon already had one.

This much was true, the boys had actually seen the current Alchemy Master, a prominent and snobbish figure, which wasn't much of an accomplishment since there were so very few alchemists in Yevon to begin with, and wasn't very impressed now that they've seen true Alchemy with Bask. He didn't just make potions and tonics to their highest grade, he mixed new ones every day practically working magic with the items. They had never felt better after a 'pick-me-up' from Bask. Now that was worthy of being an Alchemist Master. Not to mention he could fight with his skills well, as they'd seen when fiends neared too close to the workshop, while the real Alchemy Master probably couldn't manage anything past a Potato Masher.

But perhaps that was just some boasting from proud students who, besides Jac, wasn't really good to begin with.

Another joy of living with the Alchemist came from the way he behaved (when it wasn't mildly insane). Bask moved very fluently and had energy in abundance. He mostly had a cheery attitude, despite when he was seriously speaking, and taught with a merry viewpoint that matched the warm sun over Kilika. Needless to say, it was a real great time learning with him. But when he was dangerous, he was, as they seen him calmly obliterate a Protochimera with a slight of hand and a quick mix of deadly items, smiling widely as he did so.

But that made their admiration grow.

But unusual he still was.

"Now chickens!" Bask clapped his hands when all bellies were full and mouths wiped with sleeves, as they lived messily out in the woods (forgetting about the rules and regulations of Yevon and the Temples though one was so very close). Bask flashed a toothy grin and twiddled his finger in the air, "Who wants to hear a story about a girl who swallowed so much sand that her very breath caused a sand storm?"

He was so very unusual...

* * *

><p>The next day Bask was walking between the crouched and bent bodies as the boys worked on bombs to his specific instructions.<p>

Bask's eyes drifted over the bomb in between Jac legs, and his mouth turned up slightly, "Rekis-boy, make sure you clean the outside a bit. As an old Al Bhed saying goes, '_the more you look after your bombs, the more they look after you.' 'dra suna oui muug yvdan ouin puspc, dra suna drao muug yvdan oui.'_

Jac looked up at him, "Is that right?"

On the paper Bask handed out for them to make calculations on, Sano doodled a picture of a monkey stealing his instructor's shades, before frowning and looking over the edge of the in-progress doodle, "What do we care about some Al Bhed saying, Bask?"

"Ah," Bask shook his head than clapped his hands together, "Al Bheds are excellent bomb makers of course! Just because they're 'heathens' doesn't mean we can't learn a thing or two from them~!"

"Whatever," Itgu pulled up his cluster bomb and bounced it in his hand, smiling wider and forgetting about Al Bhed sayings he chuckled, "Heh, excellent."

Bask sighed and leaned over, hands folded behind his back, "Now, chickens, I have a new assignment that will prove to me how much you've improved and paid attention-" Only a week left for them until the training with Kodai would ensue "-I need you to make an original explosive. The best design will have a reward. Now, mind you, as assassin's I'm looking for something extremely effective and deadly. But don't worry losers, because you'll still get to set your own off so there's some satisfaction in that." Bask exhaled, almost done talking, "Alright, don't blow up yourselves, it **will** be completed by nightfall because I will check, and begin!"

Hands started to fumble with items and the round metal containers that would hold them and turn them into grenades, landmines, or bombs, depending on the size and shape.

Bask, with his fingers still knitted together and against his lower back under his long white hair, stalked off into the woods to let them work.

Fingers tightened, rubbed clean, placed, rearranged, shoved, flicked, until each boy had a creation forming in front of them.

Uno was making a landmine of sorts, not too pretty to look at, in fact a bit chaotic, but a trained eye could see it's crude effectiveness with the shadow gems lining the outside. Jac screwed an impressive bomb up with a second, forming a figure-eight shaped bomb, that held different elemental marbles tightly inside. Itgu finished up his landmine, bomb fragments rattling around within and a detonation button on the top, the design that (if stepped on) would send shards of exploding fragments up into the unfortunate body that stepped on it. Groto, with a more wired preference, tied colors of wire together and sparked a few others against each other before setting them into his bomb. Sano smirked all around him before lowering his head to the small round grenade in his lap.

No one thought that grenades were very impressive on their own, and in most cases compared to the other explosives, they weren't, but they were more handy and light-weight than bombs and landmines. That's all Sano needed to prefer the nifty little metal containers in his lap. Not to mention, as assassin's, he figured subtly would win more higher marks.

Already done, he pushed them to the ground and leaned back in the grass, listening to the clanking of metal pieces and the sparks of wire that Groto worked on.

"Hey," Jac, after thirty minutes of working on his own, put the completed bomb on the ground and leaned back in the soft mushy ground.

"Hrm?" Sano opened on eye and looked at Jac's creation near his foot. Jac smiled at his nod of approval, before sitting up and leaning over his shoulder.

"What did you make?" Jac peered at the grenades, just plain grenades as any.

"**Special effect** grenades," Sano smirked at the expression his companion took and lifted them up to let Jac, and the other's as curiosity struck them, get a closer look, "See, instead of plain grenades, which are bad enough, these come with certain...consequences were one to be in the unfortunate proximity of the detonation. That is, if they survive the explosion in any case. These are grenades with effects of-"

"Ooh!" Jac nodded, understanding, "You mean you have blinding grenade, a silencing grenade, and stuff like that?"

"I'm pretty sure they already have those," Itgu frowned.

"Yes, well," Sano put them down, pride in them fading and growing all at once, "They already had bomb frag-mines too, but that didn't stop you!"

"Don't fight," Uno shifted his muddled mine to the side and scooted closer, "Hey! The sun's going down now, when do youse suppose Bask will be back?"

"Anytime now," Sano yawned and scanned the trees quickly, half-expecting a Cheshire-grin and clapping hands.

* * *

><p>The fire crackled in the workshop as the boys gathered around it and hugged their bodies. The ocean could be heard churning even over the pops of the fire, angry, and the usual musical sound of chirping crickets was dominated this night by the lonely tune of a mourning starving wind.<p>

The flap was fastened, and they listened in earnest for the steps of their teacher, so that the Alchemist wouldn't have to rip his way inside the workshop and they could just simply open up and let him in. But nothing but the forlorn wind, snapping tree branches, and leaves battering the canvas tent walls was heard as the night dragged on.

Hours passed and the noise intensified. It sounded like a howling beast and their Alchemy teacher was still missing.

They, if not already, began to worry as the weather was turning for the worse, though it hadn't started raining yet. The boys tasted it on the wind though and their skin prickled as lightning would probably be included in the storm. They all uniformly shivered against the traveling cloaks they all received before going on the trip, and their chattering teeth almost made a comical musical number. They had on lighter clothes than the ones they wore in northern Spira, Bevelle, but now they wished they kept their warm clothes they left in Luca as the wind slipped through the cracks of their housing and nipped at them. They huddled closer together and faced the fire's heat, the cold still biting their backs though.

As night stretched incredibly late, their eyelids grew heavy, but anxiety would not let them rest. They shifted, coughed, sniffed, but no one made a sound or moved fully from their sitting positions to perhaps lie down and sleep.

Uno prodded his mine with his foot, not necessarily a safe thing to do, but he did so anyways. He nudged it to scoot a ways, taking a bit of dusty straw from the mat floor with it, before sighing and letting it alone.

The other boys creations sat on the floor in front of their feet, and upon Uno's act of uneasiness and worry, they looked at their own.

The reward that they were promised earlier hardly seemed to matter at all.

Jac coughed and hugged the cloak tighter around his body, out of all of them, he was the one who preferred Bask over all other instructors. His orange colored eyebrows furrowed and his bright reddish eyes wrinkled in worry. The first patters of tropical rain met their ears from the above the canvas roof and soon all their eyebrows furrowed.

"When will he be back already?" Itgu impatiently fidgeted and looked at the tent flap, "He should've been back hours ago!"

"Maybe he saw there was a storm coming and stayed at the docks or the Temple," Groto, optimistically, looked around at the red-orange tinged faces from the glow of the fire, their only light that they gladly shared, "Do you think?"

"No," Jac turned his face and rested his chin on his own shoulder, staring at the dancing flames, "He can't go into the temple remember?"

"Oh," Groto looked at his feet, poking out from under his cloak, "…the docks then…"

"Let's hope so," Sano frowned, and like the other's thought, _But why would he leave us up here alone?_

After the first exercise, Bask never gave anymore negligent surprises. He claimed that the first exercise was out of tradition and he smiled wide and stated proudly that the rest of the lessons were up to him and him alone. He, rather straight faced then, said that he wouldn't let them die or be in a position to die. They took it as a promise and they believed him. So if what he said was true, then where was the Alchemist?

"Oh, don't cry Jac," Groto, concerned, leaned forward and nudged Jac's arm.

Half-heartedly, Itgu joked, "Yeah, Jac, we're boys. Boys don't cry." His voice cracked at the end of it though.

Uno, now the optimistic one, smiled, "Jac, he's probably just walking up here now but the wind is pushing him back and making him late, is all. He'll be here in no time."

Sano looked over his bony knees. Despite Uno's words, the chunky one looked worried also.

They all knew people could die in the woods, but they didn't want to believe their ever-prepared teacher would share the same fate as unlucky travelers. But all, being orphans, had known loss and knew that people could die unexpectedly no matter how hard you wanted them to live. This fact gnawed at everyone's hearts, but nobody dare speak it.

Hours passed again, and the night seemed like it went on forever. With reluctance of its victims, the boys' heads, one by one, fell to the mat and the fire died as they couldn't find the energy to get up and tend to it. Uno and Sano, like usual, were the only ones up in the end.

"What do youse think happened to him?" Uno's voice whispered and the sound of it didn't bother the others' fitful sleep.

Sano looked at the embers and ash in the fireplace, the wind slowing down and the moon poking out and letting it's ghostly light illuminate the workshop through cracks. It was an odd thing that he wasn't back as he said he would be. A foreboding, ominous thing. Sano flicked his eyelids, the firelight reflectively dancing in his pupils watching them so closely, before he rolled over and murmured, "I don't know."

Uno whimpered a bit, "Do youse think we'll be okay?"

"Oh, no doubt," Sano shifted and looked over a Jac, his long eyelashes over his cheeks and tears drying against them. It reminded him sickly of Edmond, "Though I can't say for sure about Bask. Kodai is coming in a week, we'll do just fine until he arrives. But Bask-"

"I's know," Uno lifted his head a bit, "Let's look for him in the morning."

"No," Sano shook his head against his arms that he used as pillows, due to the lack of them in the workshop,"If he comes back, and we're gone, we'll just miss each other."

"Oh," Uno sniffed, "Maybe some of us will go and some of us will stay?"

A logical plan.

"Fine, but Jac should stay here," Sano gulped, "In case we **do** find him and he's…not well."

"Right," Uno screwed his eyes shut, he could already see a long white body crumpled against the ground from a stumble off a cliff. Jac wouldn't want to see that...he couldn't.

"That's what we'll do," Sano yawned but relaxed his face into a familiar scowl, "But, in the morning, I'm too tired to do anything right now."

"Yeah, we's needs sleep," Uno nodded and tugged on the corner of his cloak to cover his body more.

Sano bobbed his head faintly and closed his eyes. Sleep drifted into him and his chest rose and fell with sleep.

Uno looked at the moon peeking from the tent flap and, though he was exhausted and wanted nothing more but to close his eyes, he stood up. He shuffled his feet, bowing his head, and held his arms in front of his chest hovering over each other.

"Yevon," He whispered, "Grandmah, Gramps, let Mr. Bask be alright."

* * *

><p>The long bladed grasses bent under the four boys' weight as they trampled the plants in their path. Itgu led the way, followed closely by Sano, then Uno and Groto, always the followers. Jac, though the high-pitched protest still rung in their ears, stayed behind as planned in case the Alchemist finally made his way home.<p>

Mosquitoes buzzed around their heads and stung their plump young cheeks with great prejudice. Sano blew at his long strands of black hair that clung to his sweat covered face with a curse as the heat made him a bit queasy. The humidity was worse now that it had rained, and with no sign of their wayward teacher to be seen, even if they had searched for the last three hours, making them all a bit reluctant to go on. But, they needed to find him.

Though, it was surprising how hot it was now even as they were freezing last night, making it an awful chore.

"Maybe we should head back towards the temple way," Groto suggested, "Maybe he was over by there?"

Sano groaned, the heat sticking in his throat, "Why would he be over there?"

"He's weird, why would he be taking walks out in the wild Kilika woods in the first place?" Itgu looked over his sweat coated back, having been shed of the shirt hours ago, "Who's to say he isn't over there?"

"Ugh," Uno swallowed the humidity like it was thick, salty paste, "Maybe without ah path he just got mixed-up and ended up by the temple a ways?"

"I hope so," Groto leaned over his legs, huffing as they all were, and sweat dripping off of the end of his pale freckled nose, "I don't know how much more hiking I can endure."

Though he was good at flat out running, climbing over thick twisted tree roots and moss covered rocks was not what he was accustomed too. None of them really were and they all were puffing against the terrible heat.

"Maybe he's back by now?" Groto blinked up at the light pouring in above through the rich green leaves.

"I doubt it," Sano gripped his lower stomach, something just didn't feel right.

* * *

><p>On the trek back, they heard a noise that made them all flinch up, terrified.<p>

It was a low drawn out growl that rose from the trees a little off to the side of them. They had quietly been weaving through the jungle the entire time, but now, accidentally made a little noise when Groto slipped off of an ancient mossy tree root. The growl erupted after that.

No, not a growl, a moan. It was someone moaning.

"Bask!" Groto stumbled up onto his scrapped knobby knees before leaping down between the older than time twists of roots he had tried to jump over, a deep hole underneath them, "Is that you? Ah! It is! Are you alright, sir?"

Sano squinted down, seeing shadows and green but among that a pale thin figure crumbled and curled within itself. Bask's ever present shades were missing and purple bruises decorated his skin, almost contrasting with the red that slipped from the tears in the dark green-black of his leather Yevon Alchemist uniform.

"What the hell happened to you?" Itgu asked throatily as he hopped down with little grace but in great hurry, "Man, what did this to you?"

Bask groaned, gave a half-hearted grin, and turned over, "Oh," He coughed then hoarsely answered, "J-Just some old friends of m-mine…"

"We need to get him up," Groto peered out of the hole and Uno nodded, determination spreading over his face. The chunky boy crawled down, Itgu climbing out of the way, and gingerly lifted Bask's thin beaten form off the rotting leaves he laid on.

Groto, like a monkey, shimmied up the roots until back on the level he wanted and leaned down, his arms stretched. Bask, limp and breathing in ragged blood spattered breaths, was held above Uno's head so that Groto's arms could grasp the front of his leather clothes.

Groto's fingers were, from the moment Uno released pressure, slipping from the leather pant leg and the front of their teacher's shirt. Sano fell to his knees beside Groto and grabbed the loose arm of the Alchemist and yanked the body up. Uno clambered out and winced as Bask hissed through his teeth loudly, clenching the arm that Sano had lifted. It was bent wrong, obviously broken, but what's more, there was an oval-like shaped bruise that could clearly be seen hovering over the indention.

Sano frowned deeply. All the time in the orphanage, he had learned what broken bones looked like and what it looked like when a foot caused the snap. His rage felt its way behind his face and he swallowed to keep it down just long enough to get his instructor to help and not just storm away to track down the son's of bitches that did it.

Bask's long black sleeve was ripped so you could clearly see it. For a horrible moment, Uno imagined a group holding him down, tearing away his sleeve to expose his arm, then someone stepping on it on purpose. Unfortunately, that may not have been that far from the truth, he figured and Sano had already deduced judging by the slender bruises on his arms too that looked like grabbing fingers.

"Bask," Uno leaned his face over the scrapped and bloody face. The pale skin was becoming pasty-looking and the long white hair was stained red from his own life flowing out of cuts around is head.

Upon hearing Uno's harshly whispering voice, Bask shifted, but kept his eyes closed. He smiled a bit, "Uno, good to se- er, hear you."

It was obvious that smiling hurt him, and that stung the boys present in a weird way as the man was always grinning.

"Let's take him back to the workshop," Groto, his white face washed over with a face of fiery fortitude, unexpected from him as he always was rather meek, rose to his full height with fists tight at his sides.

"Itgu," His voice held no room for question, "You go back and tell Jac to make his strongest potion that he can manage right now or find some leftovers of Bask's. Run and don't stop until you get there."

"Okay," Itgu, even in the importance of the moment, felt and looked put off from the demand but nodded anyways, "I might backtrack to help you guys afterwards."

_Like you could_, Sano lifted Bask's shoulders, "Suit yourself, but go already!"

Itgu growled a bit in his throat but left anyways in a pelting run toward the workshop. Groto looked at Bask then up at Uno, "Could you-?"

"I'll get his body, Sano," Uno motioned downward with his black eyes, his pupils contracted as he took on his face of determination. Furrowed black eyebrows and intense eyes with his plump mouth pulled downwards , "Youse get his legs, it's lighter."

"Right," Sano put Bask back down gently and shuffled over to pick up the legs. He'd be walking backwards but if he craned his neck he could see where his feet was going.

They set out, Groto warning about drops in their way or rocks, mostly for Sano's benefit, and eventually took up the legs from Sano when they were halfway there. They slipped on mossy roots and tripped over rocks but still pressed on with the unconscious body slung between them and tried as best as they could not to add a few new bruises to him, though they accidentally did.

The sun was dipping lower, and Uno's stomach gurgled as dinner time neared. Upon thinking of his hunger, a new thought came to him.

"Groto," He puffed out air, a sheen of sweat covering his entire face and full drops of perspiration dripping from the thick locks of black hair, "Go ahead and check the traps for birds then cook one up for Bask. He'll need it."

Groto, now relieved from the weight again as Sano took it up minutes before, nodded and rushed off.

If Bask had been stuck there for the whole night, then he hadn't eaten since yesterday morning. And that was always light as to not weigh them down during the day. The biscuits they ate surely didn't last long in their teacher's stomach.

"Good thinking," Sano complemented and Uno felt pride rush to his face. They had come to learn more about each other as they lived and worked together, and Sano came out as 'the smart one' above them all. But, also, he was the one who took scrupulous care to not show much emotion toward anyone. The simple two words meant a lot and Uno knew it.

"We's got to get him healthy," Uno fumbled with his feet and jostled Bask by mistake. Their teacher groaned and writhed a little before going back to a kind of sleep that was simply out of pain.

"We's got to…"

* * *

><p>"Bring him in, quick!" Groto, at the tent flap, motioned for them to hurry up from the break in the tree line. With as much energy as they could muster, their limbs aching, they rushed to the workshop and entered with care to the body.<p>

Three birds, two squirrels and a rabbit sizzled over the fire, amazing since they never caught a rabbit before.

Jac motioned to a pile of their traveling cloaks and they set Bask down with gentleness and backed away as Jac came forward with a glowing blue beaker.

"I had to make this with one less fire gem than needed," Jac frowned, "It'll still work but just not as well."

"Anything will help," Groto assured him and dug around the glass bottles, looking for anything that looked blue and shimmered.

Sano and Uno fell to the dusty floor and sat, breathing in deeply to try and catch their breath. The heat of the fire wasn't helping their sweat any but they refused to let themselves leave and go out into the breezey night to cool off, at least until their teacher was set.

Itgu rushed in just as Jac bent on one knee beside Bask's head. His face was red with anger and exertion as he ran from somewhere at breakneck speeds.

"What did they say?" Groto looked at Itgu with a kind of hope that died as the anger filled to rage.

"They won't help us!" Itgu roared and knocked a beaker to the ground, "Damn Monks aren't monks at all! They're devils if they'll just let him die!"

Sano swallowed and Jac stood up, red eyes intensely focused on the pinkish face.

"Clean. It. Up."

Itgu flinched a little before dropping down to pick up the shards. As soon as it was done, Jac slowly went down on his knees and took the rim of the beaker and put it to Bask's thin lips. Itgu drew closer as Groto, already at Bask's side, looked down at him. Sano and Uno also nudged closer and watched their teacher, praying for the best, and awaiting for his reaction or recovery.

He gulped, seemingly awake now but with his eyes still closed, and his bruises faded, though didn't disappear, and the blood on his head retracted a bit.

His eyes fluttered open and the students, all five of them, gasped and leaned back.

Light green eyes, with a dark green pupil, and a distinct undeniable swirl stared up at them weakly.


	6. What Kodai the Magician Can Do

**By StormyTitan**

* * *

><p>Bask slept under two layers of sheets, recovered from when they had laid injured themselves, and his wounds were unfortunately, due to their beginner level skills, reduced but not fully healed. His body rested on the other remaining sheets and the boys shuffled around to clean what little of the last sheet they tore up for bandages.<p>

After only a month of training and they were expected to save somebody? Impossible! Even the good students, like Jac, couldn't manage anything that would save somebody that was this bad off. A few basic things like potions and perhaps a tonic to ease a little bit of pain, but that was all.

They went through Hell just three nights before. Bask was given the potion with little improvement on his part so Jac went to making tonics to ease his misery a bit. After the food was done cooking and, as the group found fitting, they tore the rabbit into manageable pieces as they attempted to feed Bask, because he was too weak and beaten to do anything by himself.

They first tried to nudge the chunks into Bask's mouth, who was half-awake at that point, but he wouldn't eat and kept rambling under his breath, his eyes half-lidded and extremely glassy. Uno forced their teacher to open his mouth and the Alchemist chewed on his own for about four bites before whining that his jaw hurt too much. Jac made the rabbit into even smaller pieces and softened it with water that he sent Groto to get from the river and they got more food into Bask's stomach before he fell asleep with the sleeping tonic Jac made him drink to wash it all down.

Exactly three days ago, all the boys except Itgu, who stayed behind to watch Bask claiming it was pointless, went to the Temple for help from the monks there, and were refused again. So, the next day, Groto and Itgu went down to the village, having to go around the temple as the monks started to get paranoid if they so much as glanced at the property, to beg for help. Many kind hearts offered assistance, but no one was a doctor and would be of no use. The actual doctors demanded payment, which they did not have, for their services. With help and colorful language from a man, who was a complete but certainly not heartless stranger, they managed to bully one doctor to agree to assess the damage but nothing more for a small price the stranger provided.

It wasn't the desired answer, and they couldn't convince him to do anything else unless they came up with the gil, but it was the best they could get and they didn't have any other choice. Itgu and Groto led him back to the workshop and the doctor did as he was asked before he told them the mess their teacher was in.

The injuries kept going, and even the doctor seemed surprised. If Spira had X-rays they'd of found even more, but they didn't so, it was just what the doctor found, a lengthy list even without all the real destruction of Bask's body. The damage totaled to seven broken ribs, eight bones broken in his right hand, apparently his favorable side for punching as his knuckles were bruised, a concussion, a shattered cheek bone, misaligned jawbone, broken left arm, cracked skull, sprained right wrist, dislocated left shoulder, bruised stomach, some internal bleeding, four broken fingers on the right side, three on the other, two back molar teeth on the right side missing, multiple cuts and abrasions, and he seemed to have bit the tip of his tongue off.

The doctor's brilliant diagnosis?

_This man was beaten._

_"Oh, what in all of Spira gave that away?" Jac threw his hands in the air and turned around, "Now that you've seen how bad he is, will you help him?"_

_"No, I only agreed to assess the-"_

_"Look, you pig!" Jac pointed down at Bask's swollen face, "He is a Alchemist of Yevon! If you do not help him it will be a crime against Yevon and I will make sure you answer for it!" _

_"How so?" The doctor looked amused to be yelled at by someone scarcely half his size, "Tell me, if you can."_

_Jac's rage elevated and his fist shook by his head, ready to strike anything that would dare approach him then, "I'll remember your face, and believe me, if Yevon does not help me than I will personally see to it that-!"_

_"You can not threaten me!" The doctor stood taller and pushed forward, shoving Jac to the side, "And I will not help you!"_

_"A crime against Yevon!" Jac screeched, whirled around, and pulled back his arm to strike. _

_Uno grabbed his elbow and shook his head when Jac, eyes flaring, turned to glare at him. As soon as Jac loosened, only a bit, Uno reached out and yanked the doctor's bag from him._

_A small clear pouch held the doctor's business cards in the front of the medical bag. Uno fished one out and held it between his middle and fore finger with a smile and an almost cold glint in his eyes. _

_"Jac won't even have to remember your's face for youse to be charged with deviance against aiding a Yevonite," Uno pulled his fingers down and the card slipped out of sight and he pulled the bag closer to himself and away from the doctor's snail-colored hands._

_The doctor opened his mouth and began to shout but Uno shouted louder back._

_"We'll help 'em ourselves! If youse ain't gonna help someone in need with this bag than youse ain't supposed to have's it at all!" _

_Uno's grip tightened and the tools of healing shifted inside._

_The doctor glared hard but Uno, his pupils contracted to pin-pricks and his eyes stony, stared back. _

_"Go away or I'll break you're arm."_

_The doctor, despite himself it would seem, took a step back and his hands tensed. His face filled with disgust and he rushed away, frowning over his shoulder, "The monks of Kilika shall hear of this!"_

_Uno smiled and he brought his hand back up, the card tucked in his palm, "And the big-guys in Bevelle will hear all about youse guys."_

_The doctor seemed to flinch before turning away and toward the Temple with a curse. _

Again, Uno earned a compliment from Sano, a pat on the back from modest Groto, and a 'hell yeah!' from Itgu. Jac looked at the bag and took it under his arm before saying anything and set to work as best as he knew how.

Uno looked over his shoulder and gave minor instructions (he didn't know much more than Jac did, but Pino had taught him a thing or two) and backed away when Bask looked more like a mummy than an Al Bhed anymore.

He didn't really look like an Al Bhed at all. In fact, apparently as they learned from the second trip to the Temple, he was a 'half-breed' but his Al Bhed was stronger in him than others and he and his parents didn't have any prior titles to guard him against prejudice.

Bask joined the Yevon army, having been raised by his mother whom the Kilika Temple more or less seemed unhappily familiar with. Bask was rejected by them, and at some point lived in the Bikanel Desert for a time with an aunt, of his father's side of course, where he became acquainted with his Al Bhed culture, a bit of tricks (that he later knew to be Alchemy), and grew up with the knowledge that a half-breed really wasn't welcome over there either.

A Yevonite to his Al Bhed kin and a Al Bhed to his Yevonite kin. How must've that made him feel?

Sano looked over his bony knees at the darkening skin that Bask had tried to hide, and had hid, for so long.

The purple 'medicine' he drank was a discoloring tonic. As Uno stumbled across a laughing tonic and gave it to Itgu, Bask discovered a tonic that changed his outward appearance, though nothing changed his eyes. His hair lost the gold in it and his skin ghosted, but he could never change the green spirals in his eyes.

To discover this little hidden fact, Groto drank a little of the medicine and his nails turned gray, his hair turned pink and his skin became red.

"Wow," Jac leaned over Sano's hunched back and looked at the tan skin and the gold flecks in his hair. As Bask slept the effects of the tonic wore off, and the trainee's found no reason to give him any more of his medicine, though it just lay on the table.

"What?" Sano looked up and watched a smile grow across Jac's face.

"He looks different is all," Jac leaned on one foot than the other, "Really…Al-Bhed, I hardly see how he's Yevonite at all."

There was one other half-breed that Sano knew of. Two technically. There was some unimportant Summoner who fell in love with an Al Bhed woman sometime back and had a daughter and then there was Seymour, who was half human and half Guado.

"Sano, Jac, where's the other chickens?" A croaking voice caught his attention again and he looked down to see one green spiral eye looking back.

Half of Bask's face grinned feebly but the other remained still, in pain, "Hmm?"

"Oh," Jac leaned down to whisper, a habit all people seem to pick up around sick or wounded people,"Groto and Itgu are checking the traps while Uno is collecting marbles for potions."

"Good chickens," Bask gave a faint nod before closing his eyes again, "How long have I been asleep?"

"Two days," Jac mentally counted. They made bombs five days ago, and he disappeared that night, they found him the next day, where they got back at night and tried to give him potions to heal him. The next day was blindly spent until half-way through Groto and Itgu left to the temple where they refused to help and Bask refused to sleep again. The fourth day was spent on finding sleep tonics and forcing their teacher to sleep and Groto and Itgu begged for help that came late in the afternoon and Uno 'claimed' the medical bag. Now, the fifth day, which was just spent waiting and cursing that they hadn't done a bit of good with the bandages and salves.

"Oh?" Bask shifted and looked at the loose in some areas and too tight in other places bandages hat covered him. He chuckled before whistling, "~Woo, you chickens did a little something, didn't you?"

"Is that a thank you?" Sano lifted an eyebrow and watched the Alchemist skim over his dark skin peeking from the linen on his arms before he fell back into the pillow.

"We know about you," Jac said hesitantly before asking softly, "Do you want that medicine?"

"The tonic?" Bask's head flopped sideways, "No, that'll do me no good now."

"Why would you hide it?" Sano narrowed his eyes, "Are you ashamed or something?"

"Ashamed?" Bask opened one eye halfway, "No, but I do know what's good for me if I want to get by without- this happening…"

"That didn't stop it," Sano said dryly.

"No, I guess not. I shouldn't have come here I guess but-" The Alchemist shrugged a little, a rush of pain filling his nerves when he did, "-ow…well, there's no use regretting it now…"

Jac chewed on the inside of his cheek before adjusting his weight again uneasily. He spoke again and was only faintly heard, "What should we do now?"

"Kodai is coming in two days," Bask relaxed a bit more and sighed, "Then he'll just arrange to have me sent back to Bevelle. It's really too bad, I'm rather fond of this place."

Fond of it? Sano looked at Jac and Jac looked back. It didn't make sense for a man to be so fond of a place where his enemies were so close behind him and more than ready to bring him harm, but then the thought of rabbits entered their mind and they shrugged.

"You'd be better off in Bevelle," Sano crossed his arms over his knees before laying his chin in them, "It's foolish to stay here."

"Ah, but Bevelle's so cold," Bask smiled, a bit more than half, "I love the warmth of the sun. It's too…northern-y in Bevelle."

"It's all for the temperature?" Sano shook his head in disbelief, "How stupid."

"He's an Al Bhed," Jac sighed and pulled the sheet up over Bask's face, earning an '~awwww…', and frowned down at their instructor, "What did you expect?"

* * *

><p>Kodai's usual frown was on his face as he approached the workshop and it deepened as he saw the boys anxiously shifting out in front of it without a teacher.<p>

"Where's Bask?" Kodai sounded annoyed and his eyebrow seemingly twitched.

"Come here," Jac wagged his wrist in the air and pushed the canvas flap to the side to allow the Black Mage in. Kodai side glanced at the group curiously before entering.

Bask slept again, shallowly breathing, and now his Al Bhed features had fully surfaced.

An uncomfortable silence passed as the Black Mage simply stood there, wearing the same face as always, and grimly silent. The boys felt sweat form on their palms and swallowed painfully, waiting for the man to say something, anything. Jac, coughing in the silence, broke the spell of muteness first.

"Kodai, sir, did you know he was Al Bhed?"

"Yes," The Black Mage nodded slowly before adding low and dangerously, "Though not many do. Who did this?"

"We don't know for sure," Groto answered in his meek voice before gulping at the golden eyes that stared fiercely at him, "Sir…we don't know."

"The temple wouldn't help us," Itgu hurriedly rushed to add what he knew in, "They wouldn't even let us near them this entire whole month! We had to live down here and stay away from them. But, about a week ago, when Bask got hurt, they told us they wouldn't help him because he's Al Bhed. We went to them twice and they still wouldn't help us! Bask was missing for a whole night before we found him, and he's hurt pretty bad. We got a doctor up here but he'd only tell us what was wrong because we couldn't pay him any gil. Bask's got broken ribs and his face is all cracked up and his arms all bent the wrong way and his hands are- A lot of stuff is wrong with him!" Itgu, breathless, finished up and looked at Groto as a swift movement from him caught his eye.

Groto stood forward, nodding vigorously, "Yeah! And the doctor wouldn't help us even after that and Jac got real mad and threatened him, but Uno stopped him from hurting the doc!"

"That's good," Kodai looked at the chubby face before looking back as Itgu got a second wind.

"But Uno was real mad too and took the guy's business card and was like, 'We are gonna report you in' and stuff cuz he wouldn't help a wounded Yevonite. Then Uno took his bag and we tried to patch Bask up but-but-"

"Here's the card," Uno held it out between his fingers, "Take it."

Kodai stared at it before shaking his head a bit, "Hold on to it." He turned around, his robes swishing against his ankles, before bending down beside Bask. He picked up the Alchemists left arm first, the latter wincing and hissing as the Black Mage moved it around. Kodai eventually bent low and whispered to the Alchemist, receiving a moan and a possible nod in return.

"I'll take care of it," Kodai spoke loud enough for the boys to hear again, before standing up and grabbing the silver flask off the table. He gently raised the Alchemist's head before slipping some of the liquid between the clenched jaw and scabby lips.

The golden hair that they had finally gotten accustomed to, turned lighter and lighter until it was once again it's bleached white. His skin turned milky and his nails were dyed black. His eyes flickered open, revealing the still green iris.

"Hey," Bask smiled at the boys' faces.

Kodai got up and motioned for them to draw closer, "Pick him up, we're going on a trip."

"What trip?" Jac looked down at Bask, "I don't think we'd be able to get him down to the village by just carrying him. We barely got him here-"

"Right," Kodai seemed to remember something then motioned for them to go outside, where he followed.

He yanked the canvas from the frame, commenting on all the dirt, dust, and grease from their cooking that coated the material with slight repulsion. Uno and Itgu were sent to go get two long branches, straight as possible and longer than their bodies, and then Groto scrapped off the twigs with his pocket knife making them poles.

Kodai looked at Sano and Jac, who idly stood by waiting, and asked them, "Do any of you two know how to sew?"

Jac replied quickly. "No, that's girl's stuff."

Kodai sighed and looked at Sano, who seemed to be indecisive, "You too?"

"No, sir, I do know," Sano frowned as a heat rose in his face, "I learned in the orphanage."

"Sissy," Itgu sniggered into the poles he was dragging. A second pole crashed into the back of his knee and he cursed and spun around, "Watch where you're going, idiot!"

Uno spat sourly back, "Youse the idiot."

"None of that," Kodai frowned at them both, "Now, Uno, Itgu, lay the poles across the edges, yes, like that. And Sano you find a small bone, strong though, and only a little bit thick."

It wasn't hard as there was a pile of them outside the workshop from where the boys simply discarded the scrapes from their dinners in the mornings before setting to work.

Kodai took Groto's pocket knife and scrapped long white shreds of the outside off before rolling the piece over the knife's edge quickly and in even motions. It started to round out itself and Kodai ordered Itgu to find a long cord.

The bone needle was passed to Sano's hand and a cord, black, was produced for him with instructions.

"Stitch the poles tightly on the edges of the canvas, rolling it up a little before you do, and make sure it's on good. We're making a stretcher."

"Where exactly are we going, sir?" Jac asked as Sano bent down and started doing as he was told.

An evil glint passed though the Black Mage's eyes and a rare smile danced over his thin lips**.**

* * *

><p>"Owwww…" Bask writhed a bit as Uno held firmly onto the thick wooden poles of a stretchersled that Kodai had devised. The canvas held Bask's body while the two poles that the canvas was pulled tight between was hauled by Uno like he was a pack animal. Uno had no particular strain as the walk this time was short and the path smooth. After all, they were just heading to the temple. Unfortunately, the end of the sled thumped with each stair they climbed, and that was what was causing the Alchemist's discomfort.

"Sorry," Uno apologized and slowly made his way up the next step, still causing a bump that rattled the stretcher's frame. The poles didn't have another hand hold to grip at the bottom so the edge just had to drag. Bask groaned loudly and Itgu bent to try and pick up the stretcher by the canvas itself to lift it up. It was slow business going up but they made it there soon enough.

"Stop complaining already," Kodai, now in front of the temple and receiving sullen looks from the monks that stood outside, spread his arms through the air wide as the Alchemist silenced himself to a few mutterings.

Kodai bowed low and then lifted his head as a finely dressed monk appeared.

"Good morning to you," Kodai greeted with a frown as the monk did the same.

"Good morning," The monk looked at the stretcher, sneered in disgust, then looked at the surly boys, only Jac missing among them, staring at him with hostile eyes.

"We require your assistance," Kodai gestured with his eyes at the Alchemist, "And a trained White Mage."

"And who are you?" The monk raised one dark brown eyebrow before patiently waiting.

"I'm Vicorot Kodai," The Black Mage stood tall and his short tan hair seemed to tense up with electric pulses, as his gold eyes sparked as well. The boys blinked, not believing their eyes, and Kodai continued to talk past the occasional bolt that threaded it's way past his lips to a brief distance past his mouth, "And I'm a Black Mage from Bevelle. Other wise known as, 'Vicorot Kodai the Magician'. A lengthy name I know, I usually am referred as just 'Kodai' alone and wish that you address me as such."

"Vicorot Kodai the Magician you say?" The monk rubbed his bald head, a bit of sweat forming on his skin. And if one didn't know any better, it would seem the name was something to be feared, but he stuttered nervously afterward, and more importantly, "From B-bevelle?"

"I'm aware that you refused to help these trainees," Kodai lowered his voice darkly. The bolts of lightning seemed to disappear, retracting back into his head as he continued to speak, "And their instructor, an Alchemist specialist, even as they requested it _twice_ from you."

The monk swallowed, "W-well-"

Interrupting, Kodai heatedly hissed, "I don't care for any excuses you might have as none would be good enough to explain your negligence as good Yevonites. Still, I'm willing to forget all that if you do as I say without argument."

"Yes, sir," The monk clamped his hands together, "What is it you require, sir?"

"First, your best White Mages for my comrade, **now**, and second," Kodai leaned forward into the man's face, "I want you to tell me who exactly in this defiled temple hurt a man of the Yevon army?"

"S-sir," The other man backed away a bit, "I can assure you that-"

"Don't lie to me," Kodai, almost sing-songed, low and a corner of his mouth turned up, "If you do I might just have to strike you down now. Oh, don't make that face, I'd be justified."

"Is that right?" The monk, and other's around him, shivered, "Do you think that you'd honestly get away with a thing like that?"

"No one would even find your body if I put _half_ my mind to it," Kodai's face fell back into a frown, "And as for witnesses-" His golden eyes darted over all present, a child with blue, red, yellow and green robes, a woman visiting the temple, four monks, and a female wearing a long white robe, before continuing in a dangerous tone, "There would be none."

"N-naomi!" The monk turned to the white robed one, "See to it that this man is healed properly!"

"Y-yes sir," Like a frightened rabbit the woman hopped forward to Bask's side. Uno offered to pull the sled into the temple, which he did as all followed, including the potential 'witnesses' as they weren't allowed out of the Black Mage's sight.

"A bit evil, don't you think?" Sano lifted up a corner of his mouth at Kodai.

"Them or me?" Vicorot unemotionally looked out of the corner of his eye at the cadet before finding his answer in a mere look, "Oh, _I'm_ evil you say? What about what they had done to Bask?"

"I suppose," Sano looked at the trembling little girl, holding onto the woman visiting the temple's dress, "But what about them?"

Bending down a bit, Kodai whispered so none could hear, "I'd never hurt them. I couldn't be justified for that. A lie to get what I want, you see? You're an assassin, or will be, so you'll come to find that lying, disguising, and most of all, extortion go a long way in this field. You'll become excellent in it by the end."

"Hmm," Sano drank it in, almost relishing in it. Sin, not the monster but the actions, and other bad things always tempted men, and he was no different now. To get away with such things, when so long ago his mother would've yanked his ear off for lying just because he wanted something, tasted sweet. If he became good in it, then nothing would be better.

"Don't get that look," Kodai looked at the pleasant smile on the boy's lips, "Lying is only good if it isn't found out. And you might give me away with that dumb ass grin."

"Sorry sir," Sano leaned away and Kodai straightened himself up. Bask was taken into a room, where Uno was shooed out, and then the monk from before approached the Black Mage assassin, rubbing his hands.

"Well, what was the second bit you wanted? My mind-"

"Tell me," Kodai leaned closer and whispered harshly into the man's ear with a sick hiss, "What scum did this to my comrade?"

"Ah, yes," The monk wiped at his forehead, "Well, you see it wasn't-"

"I told you not to lie..."

"But, you have to understand-"

"No, I don't. I already understand the truth and that's enough. Now, bring forth those that are responsible, if you please."

"P-please, it's a misunderstanding of some kind. Do you really think anybody from the temple, a holy place, would r-really-?"

"Enough!" Kodai's eyes flashed from gold to orange and just like that, the room became hot as his body glowed and burst forth into flames. His mouth opened up in a growl and the boys and monks backed away from him. Kodai grabbed the man before he escaped, singeing the front of the man's delicate robe in his fist, and hoisted him in the air as flames licked out of his mouth as he spoke.

"Don't you dare spit out another lie from your infernal lips." Fiery petals danced close to the monk's already sweating face, "If you lie to me again I'll burn this place up!"

"All right! All right! But what are you going to do to the men responsible?" The monk seemed a bit torn but crazily yelped out anyways, "I'll tell you! Just don't kill anyone, please!"

"I won't if you tell me!" Kodai's inner flame grew and started to rage wildly around him. He shook his arm that held the man up and his eyes flashed coldly, cooling down as ice started to form and then crawl from his face, to his neck, and then to his chest. A hissing could be heard as the flames were extinguished by frosty bluish white. Kodai's breath started to be visibly seen and the room's temperature went from one extreme to the next.

Teeth chattering now, the monk held up his arms, "I-I-I'll tell you but please tell me what you'll do with them when I do!"

Kodai breathed out slowly, a white mist escaping his lips in one cool heave as stars of ice started to burst forth from the man's robe in front of him, he shook himself and his natural hue returned and the temperature started to climb again to what was normal in a dank temple.

"I'll teach them a lesson, but no great harm will come to any of them," Kodai smiled, everything seemingly normal compared to what supernatural thing had just occurred, "And I know there was more than one. My comrade would not be downed by one or two cowardly men jumping him by surprise in the night."

"Oh?" The man gulped again and then nodded his head with scrunched eyes, "I'll tell you, I'll tell you! Just please put me down."

"All of them?" Kodai raised his arm higher and brought the man near to tears.

"Yes, yes, all of them!"

Kodai dropped him, Jac coming in sweating from behind him. The Black Mage noticed the arrival and gave a curt nod, "Good."

The Black Mage turned to the boy, who had a familiar stranger with him and a doctor with snail colored hands.

"Oh, good day to you," Kodai pleasantly bowed his head and drew closer to the doctor as the monk uneasily twitched.

The stranger shook the doctor's shoulders and the man yelped, "Oh! G-good day."

"Now," Kodai looked back to the monk, "What was the names of the men?"

"Five of them," The monk seemed to take his time, not seemingly wanting to give up the names at all, "T-they are my underlings and-well-"

Kodai frowned, "Call them in, now, all of them."

Wasting no time in carrying out what he was told, the monk brought back the other five, three of them fierce-faced warrior monks, before bowing his head, "S-sir, I brought them."

"Good, good," Kodai examined each of their faces, "Hmm, I seem to recognize you all from somewhere."

"I don't have the faintest clue where you'd have met us," The monk from before wrung his hands together, "I don't-"

"Oh, now I remember," Kodai, still frowning and obviously remembering all along, leaned forward, a lick of fire leaping up from his body again, "You six are the ones that were expelled from the Bevelle Temple, is that right?"

"R-right, that must've been when we met. Heh, I can't recall you but it seems you've recalled me." The monk nodded before Kodai frowned deeper, as if the gesture only fueled the anger within him.

"What was it for again?" Kodai licked his lips and smoke seeped from the corners of his mouth, "Oh, yes, for making threats to a half Al Bhed Alchemist who was just 'roaming' the temple. Well, I'll tell you this now, he is a Yevonite Alchemist, a damn specialist, and you are in deep **shit **for doing what you did to him! All of you!"

The monk flinched as the Black Mage roared black smoke, but then a boldness grew in him, "So what are you going to do to us exactly?"

"Me? Oh," Kodai's eyes flashed a moment of evil darkness. He turned to the doctor who quailed at the in-human look the Black Mage possessed with the fire leaping demonically from his body, " What was the injuries? Do you remember?"

"I writ-written it down as I do all that I-I- examine," The man adjusted his glasses and pulled a book out from behind him as the stranger, oddly amused by Kodai instead of afraid, nudged him to hurry up. Jac was absolutely wide-eyed and shocked, shaking in her spot as Kodai's power writhed and waited.

"List them," Kodai looked at them and the flames turned black, stealing the light from the room as tendrils of shadow curled in counting and multiplied with each injury that was called out.

The doctor seemed to regret sentencing these monks to whatever what was going to happen to them, but caring more about his own skin, read it to the exact letter, "Seven broken ribs, eight bones broken in his right hand, his knuckles were bruised, a concussion to his head, possibly from a blow, shattered cheek bone, misaligned jawbone, broken left arm, cracked skull, sprained right wrist, dislocated left shoulder, bruised stomach, some internal bleeding, four broken fingers on the right side, three on the left, two back molar teeth on the right side missing, multiple cuts and abrasions, torn muscles on his stomach, lower back, temple was split open, and the patient-" the doctor coughed, shakily adjusted the glasses on his face, before continuing, "bit the tip of his tongue completely off."

"Oh? Did you hear all that?" Kodai, with many tendrils curling delightfully toward him, frowned despite the mood his shadow was obviously in, "That's quite a bit. And I am just wishing that I can pay that all back."

The monk pointed a shaking finger at him, his voice quaking as he yelled, "You said that no-!"

"Great harm will come to any of you," Kodai finished for him before looked at the five then straight at the monk, who shook with terror, "And you as well, monk, as I know you probably lead them to do this. Being that you were the main agitator in Bevelle. And as I promised, no great harm to any of you in particular. You'll all share the pain my _friend _endured."

With that said, Kodai's dark extensions reached out to the monks as they screamed and tried to back away from them. The ends wrapped around their bodies, quickly lifting them up from from escape by different parts on them all, and they were thrown to the ground as the punishment was given out.

A man spit out his back teeth after a knock came to his face, another howled as his fingers were snapped, another clutched his right wrist as it was skillfully, if not carefully, twisted in the right way to cause a sprain. They braced themselves for more after they were dragged around on the floor a bit to cut and batter their outsides a bit but nothing else came. And the lead monk just waited, trembling in the 'arm' of the shadow.

"Tell me, gentlemen," Kodai's eyes were fogged with a purple black floating cloud, "That alone feel right to any of you? Do you want it to stop?"

"What are you getting at?" Fear tracing his voice, but still strong, the lead monk gritted his teeth as the arm grasped him tighter.

Kodai leaned closer as the arm yanked the lead monk forward, "Tell me, Udahiki that was your name, what did my friend scream when you beat him? "Stop it?" perhaps? Did you listen to him?"

"What of it?" the monk, with disapproving glances from the other monks that weren't among his five, scowled, knowing all was over.

"I would never put any man through that Hell with my bare hands," Kodai shook the man a bit, a smile creeping over his lips, "But you did, what do you think would be a fair punishment? Equal distribution? Of course that wouldn't be fair because you'd all only feel a sixth of what Bask the 'Mad Alchemist' felt."

The boys felt themselves back farther and farther away from Kodai, almost in fear and wariness, but they stopped their backing up and stood firm in their place, holding their breaths for what was to come next.

"So what are you going to do?" The monk grumbled, resigning himself almost to death.

"Open your mouth, Udahiki, and don't look me in the eye as you do it," Another dark tendril escaped from his behind Kodai and wormed its way forward as the Monk slowly did as he was told. "You're a disgrace to all monks. You're despicable."

"Gyahhh!" The tendril wrapped around his tongue and pulled at the very end, blood spurting from it. A few more tugs, and it was off, writhing on the ground as the last bit of sensitive nerves died.

"Now," Kodai dropped him to the ground and the others as well, "Did that feel right to any of you?"

The monk clutched his face, tears seeping from his eyes. The others held their own wounds close and did not make eye contact with the demonic mage for more than a second.

Kodai seemed to calm himself from his rage before flexing his fingers at the doctor, "The list."

It was handed to him with quivering fingers and Kodai looked at it, before ripping it to shreds and tossing them at the Monk's bloody face.

"When you finally die, from what ever Yevon chooses for you, I hope some divine retribution would be ready for you," Kodai grumbled low in his throat before turning around, his cloak brushing against his ankles, "It's only a shame that I cannot be the one to reap such a perfect punishment for you."

He turned and walked ahead, before gracefully turning down into the room where Bask was being treated.

With some hesitance, and a few shuddering breaths, the boys followed after.

* * *

><p>"S-sir?" Groto feebly muttered and flinched when Kodai's eyes met his.<p>

"What, cadet?" Kodai spoke slowly, if not sluggishly, like he was tired.

Sano answered for him, breathless and wide-eyed, "What the Hell was that?"

"What was what?" He opened one golden eye that had been closed sleepily, and his eyes landed on Uno, who was making flapping motions with his hands held by his face, while wiggling his fingers. He smirked and leaned back again.

"Black Magic, arcane magic, the darkest of all the magics, "Kodai rubbed his eyes, "And the most tiring as well. It was a good thing those imbeciles worked me up or I'd of passed out after I froze the whole room."

"I never saw a Black Mage do that," Itgu shivered at the memory of it. What kind of man was he?

"Ordinarily, they don't have the capacity for it, it's far above their level, " Kodai leaned back in a chair that rested against the wall, after he was bravely, even after his 'display', was literally shoved out of the room by a bunch of woman and a teenage boy in white. He had to hand it to women, when it came to their duty nothing would make them budge. He shook his head free of the thoughts he had, or actually better called concerns, as he heard Bask howl in pain just beyond the wall he leaned against.

Jac looked at him with wide eyes, "How did-"

"I use my body to cast spells? All spells are from the body, Rekis, they're just pushed through an object, like a staff or a doll even. I just use my body like a doll," Kodai yawned and his eyes crinkled around the edges, showing his age, "Of course, a doll is empty so you don't have to worry about things like organs and bones. I always watch where and how I'm dispersing my magic."

Kodai chuckled dryly before continuing on, absent minded, "I have learned how to manifest it in different ways, such as what you saw. The spell is very sensitive though and is more often times than not activated by the impulse of my brain. I need to keep myself in check lest I blow up a Temple like I almost did."

Groto rubbed at the goosebumps on his arms, "The ice?"

"Cooled me off a bit," Kodai nodded faintly, "I was getting too 'heated', so to speak, so I tried to simmer myself down, as you might say." He scowled at himself, "It didn't last long, though, did it? I suppose I must be losing my touch. I didn't even keep it contained near me, and affected the whole room. Ah, age...it wears a man out, I tell you."

"You can't control it?" Sano chewed his bottom lip, something he did when he was nervous, which was rare, "What if you-?"

"I can," Kodai said stiffly, opening one golden eye, "If I couldn't control my abilities, Trenraka, then you would not be here."

Uno wrung his hands, much like the monk had earlier, in uneasiness, "Are we's gonna learn that?"

"No, it's far too difficult and dangerous to be taught to just anyone. Most likely, it will be my apprentice that will learn all that I have developed and no one else," Kodai frowned, "Are any of you even interested in Arcane magic?"

"Well," Sano remembered how he felt about it, the power that he wished to possess, but shied away from it now, "The basics perhaps, but not- what you just did."

"Shadow," Kodai informed, "I called upon my shadow."

"What does that mean?" Itgu crossed his arms, his slight edgy feeling leaving him bit by bit, "Like didja-?"

"I used my shadow, quite literally," Kodai coughed, "Oh, well, no use explaining it, none of you will learn it."

"Why not?" They all chimed in together and looked oddly at each other afterward.

"Head Captain Uguro put other men on the job for Hoto and Nanbu. They're coming back ahead of schedule and you're to start advance training with them. And there's something else-"

"What?" Jac lifted his head a bit more.

"The test is nearing, one way or another, one of you will have to leave."


	7. A Budd'y'ing Friendship

**By Stormytitan**

* * *

><p>The boat headed surely towards Luca without any unsavory encounters with Sin so far, as everyone always feared when near the ocean. And all was rather pleasant despite the rocking and churning of the water and boat, but there was one plague that ailed two passengers; sea sickness.<p>

"Oooohhh," Bask swallowed his bile and leaned into Uno's wide back, "M-*hic* Mydo-boy, h-how are you holding up?"

"N-not so's good, Sir," Uno shook his head against the motion, "Ugghhh…"

Kodai waved his hand over their hands and chanted out arcane spells, more complicated and deep down in his throat then White spells, trying to quell their symptoms.

"Not. Helping." Bask frowned, his usual grin absent on his again pale face, "W-why am I so s-sick?"

"Perhaps the internal bleeding? Or the torn muscles?" Sano raised his head from his knees and acidly spat, "Or perhaps, how about we're in the middle of the fucking ocean in a sea storm?"

"Hey, can Sano censor himself?" Jac looked over his shoulder and glared hard before turning back to the game he was entertaining little kids with. His marbles, now that he was focusing on becoming an Alchemist and had a full stock, rolled on the shifting floor and distracted the children from the raging storm above.

Groto pulled the cloak around him tighter and looked up at Kodai with questioning eyes. Catching the glint of the freckly pale face from the corner of his eye, the magician tilted his head and frowned, "What is it you want to ask?"

"Sir," Groto adverted his gaze and color rose in his paper-white, speckled cheeks, "I was just thinking, uhm, what kind of test is this going to be?"

"You'll have to compete with each other, Head Captain Uguro will chose four, only four, and one will be sent back to basic training with the regular troops." Kodai sniffed as he smelt vomit, the news apparently racked Uno's already upset stomach into exploding.

"Disgusting," Sano flinched away as Uno flopped back near him, "Go away."

"Jerk," Uno mumbled before scooting back towards Bask's crooked arm.

They had arrived too late for it to be fully healed. To many days of having it wrong made it impossible to set to rights. Bask was stuck with a left arm that was twisted and he couldn't fully close all his fingers either. He took it in a stride considering, though Jac caught the sad smile when no one was looking as he stroked the scar that traced his lower arm from when the White Mages tried to manually set the arm back.

"Mydo-boy," Bask took a huge breath trying to settle his stomach, but wincing as the bruise stretched and became sore from that action, "Mydo-boy, do you think you could bring that bucket a bit closer?"

Once his stomach was empty he leaned back into the wall of the boat and wiped his mouth, ignoring the disgusted stares he got from everyone there as his twisted arm swiped his lips clean. He leaned forward a second, cringing at the pain in his side, and grabbed the silver flask from his belt side to take a sip.

"That'll only make you sick again, you know," Jac weakly smiled and sat beside him as Bask fought against the urge to spit the violet liquid all over the floorboards.

Bask flicked up his dark shades and chuckled, "A necessary evil. I need to keep up my dashing good looks, you know."

"Whatever," Sano grumbled irritably before squinting through port hole from where he sat on the floor, "Looks like the storm is easing up a bit."

"That's good an' all, but tell's me's when we's can get off," Uno moaned and plopped onto his side, making a five year old laugh at his misfortune.

"Hey, where's Itgu?" Groto looked around and his red eyebrows furrowed upwards, "Do you guys see him anywhere? Sano, you were with him the last, right? Did you happen to see if- "

"What am I, his babysitter? Why should I care what he decides to do at every waking moment?" Sano scoffed, "Let him fall out into the ocean and get eaten by Sin for all I care."

"How can youse say that?" Uno scrunched up his face, "I thoughts we's were all friends!"

"We aren't," Sano laid his chin into his knees and clenched his eye lids together.

_At the mention of the 'test', Itgu seemed to become more arrogant than ever. Did the others notice? No, they were all just happy that Bask could walk. And yes, he was happy too, there was no denying that, but who was it that Itgu decided to pester and no one took notice to it? Why, it was good ol' Sano. _

He growled in his throat and imagined pushing Itgu into the ocean. His fingers tightened into the material of his pants and his teeth ground into each other.

"_It's too bad," Itgu sighed as he leaned closer to Sano, their traveling cloaks over their shoulders as they waited for the boat to come into the dock. _

"_What is?" Sano glanced over at Bask who was talking with Jac and Groto, because Itgu was looking in that direction. Uno paced the dock, dreading the ride home, while Kodai seemed to stare out into the very blue of the ocean. All was something to comment about if you wanted to make conversation, he supposed. _

_Sano always had trouble talking to people, most found his way of talking 'not cute' when he was young, and normal conversations was limited and unwanted by him in the orphanage. He only ever played with Pal, his brother's Hypello friend, and that was the only other kid contact he got socially. He had to admit, while eating, sleeping in a big dog-pile, and making creations with the boys around him, he started to feel like he had brothers again and he missed his sister all the more. But there was no denying he felt a connection with all of them. _

_Itgu picked under his nails and repeated, "It's a shame."_

_Sano knew he was smug and vain, but at this point, he just put it off as a bad habit of Itgu and nothing to hold against him._

"_What do you mean?" _

"_Ah," Itgu seemed to take little notice of what he said and leaned on the crate Sano sat patiently in front of, "It's such a shame…I feel we became good friends, Sano."_

"_Yeah, I kinda feel that way too," Sano nodded. It wasn't easy for him to talk like that. He resented seeming weak, and friends only led to trouble in the orphanage. But he wasn't there anymore, and he reminded himself that all the boys here probably had similar hardships as they were all orphans. He could relate to them, even though at the beginning he felt he couldn't relate to anyone._

_It was funny how this island changed him. How it...warmed his soul. _

"_Oh?" Itgu laughed a bit, "You do? Well, then it's a double shame!"_

_Sano finally remembered that Itgu kept saying that, "Hey, erm-" He smiled a bit, if not feebly, "What do you keep saying that?"_

"_Well," Itgu dragged out a slow breath, "We all know one of us is going to leave with this test, you know?"_

_Sano glanced over at Uno and then Groto. After training together for so long, they knew each others strengths and weakness. Groto, though a proficient learner, was just that. He did not excel past what was expected of him and his only attribute seemed to be that he could out-run everybody else and possessed more patience. Uno, though the strongest of them all, was too slow and often didn't understand half of what was going on._

_Jac was probably set to be on the group of four because he went beyond all limitations and strived for even more. Itgu was a fierce fighter with an attitude, but also without mercy. While he was an intellect. Uno and Groto were most likely, putting two and two together, going to be the ones that were going to have to leave. One or the other anyways._

_Sano felt an ache as he imagined them leaving and their group becoming one less. A bit of him felt empty, like their group would become in an undetermined amount of time. It would happen whether he liked it or not, and Sano sighed in his head with the quick thought, 'I hope they get to meet Mia before they go though..' if not then he'd have quite a bit to talk about with her._

_Itgu followed his gaze and smiled devilishly, "Its been nice knowing you, Sano."_

"_Yeah, nice-" His lean face scrunched up into a bit of an ugly and contemptuous expression, "What do you mean 'it's been nice knowing you?"_

_Itgu snorted, "Just like it sounds like, I think you're gonna have to go home, dude."_

_Sano resisted the urge to correct him, as the losers of their little competition would simply have to go to basic training, but he sneered instead, "Oh, is that right?"_

"_Yeah," Itgu pulled up his shoulders higher, "We all know Uno's the strongest so he'll get to stay. Jac can do everything, and me? Well, am a damn good shot and rock out with the rapier." _

"_I do well myself," Sano shot back, "And I do take pride in my aim."_

"_Oh, but," Itgu seemed to hold in a fit of laughter, "But you won't hit to kill, not in real life anyways! We're training to be assassins Sano, you couldn't even kill a squirrel in a trap when we were up in the workshop remember? How are you going to kill people when you can't kill an animal?"_

_Sano's eyes widened suddenly and Itgu smiled wider, victorious.  
><em>

"_Shut up!" Sano stood up and pushed all his weight into Itgu's chest through both his hands. His face stung with something and he swallowed it down, rage tickling his face instead, "Shut up!"_

"_Hey," Groto, ever the peace maker, silently held out his hand and whispered, sidling towards them, "Don't fight guys- Whatever it is-"  
><em>

"_You too! I don't want to hear any of your pacifistic bull-shit!" Sano snapped and then glared at Kodai who tilted his head a bit questioningly. _

_Jac, always standing up for Groto, stalked up to Sano and pushed him hard in his bony shoulders. Feeling the hands press against his bones, he hissed and inwardly cursed._

_I haven't got a bit stronger have I? _

_It's true he couldn't kill a squirrel, even when it was hurting and crying out in pain, he couldn't put it out of its misery. He held the knife up to its head and couldn't make his quivering hands push. The other boys always killed what they caught, if it hadn't already died. Uno always killed his share though, since the larger boy was used to helping fish move on so he could eat them when he lived with his grandparents. But, before this point, nobody had mentioned it to Sano that this characteristic of his was a bad thing. _

_Sano scowled. He was becoming an assassin, training to kill, and he couldn't even kill an animal when it couldn't move!_

"_What the Hell is wrong with you!?" Jac screeched in his annoying condescending high-pitched voice and Sano's face twitched before he pushed him back._

"_I'm sick of all you!" Sano felt a cold grip on his shoulder and turned heatedly to see Bask gripping him with his twisted arm. His rage died and he shrunk visibly as the Alchemist just held him there._

_After a moment, the seagulls crying over head and the locals and other passengers waiting to board watched him carefully since his outburst, started to whisper to each other._

_He remembered, a long time ago and he was surprised he even remembered at all, he had thrown a temper tantrum when he was five in a store asking for a book that his mother wouldn't give him because it was above his level, she claimed. She held him still and he cowered as she harshly commanded in a low whisper for him to cease. People stared and whisper then, and he felt his mood come back as he was angry at their whispering about him; 'brat' and 'spoiled' slipping from their lips. _

_He couldn't hear what was being said, his ears were deaf except for the beating of his heart in his ear drums. Bask looked down at him before slowly letting go with the few fingers he could move. _

"_Enough, Trenraka-boy."_

He hadn't been in good spirits since then and he decided to once again crawl back into his shell to hide there until the embarrassment of not being able to become Elite faded. Maybe it would never fade and he'd be alone for the rest of his life, a damn outcast in a crowd full of people.

"Blegh!" Uno coughed up the last bit of his latest exertions, he sat back his Jac and Groto, Bask having apparently gotten up as Sano glared out the port hole.

Then he spied it. A flash of light brown hair that sat perfectly close to an annoying peach scalp. Itgu hung outside by a rope and playfully stuck his tongue out at him through the glass. The tossing of the storm had stopped but rain still splattered against the portholes and the sky was still gray.

Sano rolled his eyes as Kodai noticed the act as well. He opened the porthole, pinched Itgu's nose and twisted it to the side before letting go and ordering him to get up on the deck to meet him. Sano felt a sick bit of satisfaction but it was fleeting as Itgu shimmied back up the line.

"Hey, youse ain't sick are ya?" Uno looked at the bucket, already filling up with Yevon knows what, "If youse gotta throw up this is here for ya."

"No," Sano looked over his knees, his brown-green eyes glaring hard at the black eyes. "Leave me alone."

"Why's?" Uno wiped his mouth and took a chance by scooting closer, "Hey's youse ain't still mad at us are ya? We's didn't do anything to youse!"

"Hmph!" Sano looked back over his shoulder, "I don't care what you did. I don't want friends, so leave me alone."

"Youse don't mean that," Uno frowned and sucked in his upper lip a bit, "Youse can't mean that!"

"I can, I just did," Sano sighed into his shoulder and stared back out at the dismal gray.

"No, youse-"

The boat took a horrible toss that sent Uno and Sano flying back to the left side of the room. A second later, they were sent back to the middle as the boat rocked then heaved.

"What the bloody Hell?!" Sano lifted his bruised face from the floor boards. A scared cry called out, answering him, "It's Sin!"

Uno froze in his place and Sano's eyes widened as he felt his breath catch in his throat.

"No, it's a Sin Spawn!" A man bravely looked out the porthole before rushing up onto the deck, shouting to the men, "Come on! We got to stop it!"

Some men, and even some women, got up and rushed up to the deck. Uno felt his knees rise and he looked down at Sano, "Are youse coming or not?"

Sano shook his head weakly, his hands holding himself up as his body heaved. He swallowed his bile but it threatened to come up again. Eventually it just came out and he coughed against the pain in his throat and the taste.

He backed away, the cries of children reaching his ears and the hushing of their mothers. Another crash and screaming from above deck and the children whimpered around him. His head buzzed dully and Sano closed his eyes against it.

_This is the type of thing that killed Letalis and Yagi, isn't it? _

"Mama, I'm scared!"

"Shh, it's alright dear."

Sano dully heard them before thinking sickly, _It's a piece of that hideous, awful thing that killed Letalis and Yagi. _

"Kill it!" Someone screamed.

He opened his eyes again and something in his body flared.

* * *

><p>"Gaahhhhh!" Itgu grasped the dangling light that hung over the boat from the Spawn's forehead. The Sin Spawn reared back it's head and he was tossed up into the air and he closed his eyes as he waited for strong teeth to gnash him to bits. Instead he felt a bony hand grasping his wrist and he stared up at the squinted face and body that hung over the ship's side. Above the painted words "S.S. Morning Star", Sano hung by his waist and had one long arm stretched out to hold onto Itgu's wrist, his other hand hung onto the railing and held up his precariously placed body from falling down into the sloshing, white, foamy water to a certain demise from the Spawn.<p>

"Hah!" Itgu caught his breath and noticed Sano's hands slipping against the wetness of the railing, "Sano!"

A twisted arm wrapped itself around Sano's waist and pulled back, bringing Itgu up with it. Halfway up, the Sin Spawn turned it's ugly fish head to them and opened up it's wide jaws. It's razor sharp teeth ready to stab all three of them and it's glowing neon eyes staring intently at them.

Bask dug into his pouch and pulled up a gun from his side and shot the mix that was always in the slot for his quick use. A fire gem and fire scale shot off into the Sin Spawns face and blinded it, if it didn't hurt it much which it didn't seem to, and Bask yanked back quick to get the two bodies back.

Black tendrils snaked into the Spawn's mouth and the back of it's throat was soon stuffed with the shadow.

The shadow ripped and sliced at everything it touched, the Spawn wailing back before flopping more upon the ship and sinking the ends of it's teeth into the perpetrator of its pain. Kodai, sweat and rain running from his forehead, screamed out in a hoarse cry before ripping back. A snap of bone and blood and his hand was gone.

Groto grabbed onto the Sin Spawn's nose, screaming at the top of his lungs and clenching his eyes shut.

"Sedevan!" Kodai, bent over his hand that was streaming blood all over the planks, looked up through tightly pinched up eyes. Groto's hands spread out and found the Sin Spawn's nostrils, holding on for the life of him.

Kodai's tendrils found the end of Groto's ankle and tugged him back just as the great mouth opened again and snapped shut with a click of teeth. The sharp points fit together like puzzle pieces and then it thrashed it's head around as it despaired over not being able to get anything trapped between them.

Uno, a crow bar tight in his hand, rushed it and crashed the end of it into the Spawn's eye. Clear fluid busted out of the punctured eyeball and covered the boy and he cried before crashing back to the boat's floor, writhing.

"What happened!" Jac was at his side, pushing him up, and looking him over for any sign of injury.

Spitting, Uno rubbed at his eyes and spat out more, "It got in my mouth! And it taste's terrible!"

"Oh, for the love of-" Jac caught motion overhead and pushed against Uno to slam him against the railing and away from the barbed tentacle that destroyed the deck floor just where they had been sitting moments before.

Flipping over, Jac came to a skidding halt, his boots squeaking against the deck and the rain, before jumping back up with a war cry and wrapping his hand around a spike that protruded from the slimy arm. Gritting his teeth and yanking hard, the spike came loose, but it cause a reaction in the others. They prickled up, skimming the end of Jac's nose as he back away with the prize in his hand, before jerking free of the boards. Uno dove to the side as the tentacle was retracted into the ocean and the railing went with it as it smashed into it.

The flexible arm was raised again and came crashing down, blood spurting from some unfortunate sailor, before scrapping the body across the floorboards and flicking it off of its barbs.

Sano felt the bile rise in his throat again as the body lifelessly curled into a heap at his feet, his seat on the planks as the boat heaved again as he felt like doing. The head was turned away from him but the blood seeped out into a pool that started to edge past the toes of his boots. Reaching up with light fingers, Sano pulled the rain from his face to find it darkly colored.

Itgu scooted away from Sano and gave an in-human cry, blood staining his face as well. His pale eyes were wide, frightened, and he wiped at the blood all over his hands and arms shakily.

Sano stared emotionless at Itgu, practically going crazy over the body, his own mind in another place.

_Sin and it's Spawns…_ he thought dimly before blinking, the life blood running past his shorts and soaking them where the rain hadn't under his cloak. _It kills so much. Doesn't even care, does it? Letalis and Yagi, and Edmond's parents…I'm surprised the ocean isn't bright red from all that Sin has murdered._

Then a kind of sickness settled and his head reeled. This man was dead, mutilated, and he couldn't think or hear. Pain didn't bring him out of his state as he was thrown over the body before he came sliding down into the boards of the deck, splinters familiarly stabbing his body, and a Spawn's tentacle pinned him hard against the planks.

He tightened his fist around something and brought it up to his face, a crow bar tightly clenched in his hand. He turned around and stabbed the writhing arm repeatedly as the part that was missing a spike pinned him down to the boards, other spikes stabbing into the boat. Fluid exploded onto his face and he kept stabbing until he was blinded by it.

Men shot at the fiend, Kodai gathered a second breath and continued on as the others managed with what they had. Blood seeped down below through the long cracks from the spawn's destruction and mothers covered their children's eyes.

"Die already!" Sano plunged the crowbar down as hard as he could before the writhing stopped and it was yanked up, a spike's end skimming past his shoulder and another diagonally across his face. Missing his eyes, and leaving a red trail from his left jaw bone up to his nose, across it, then to his forehead.

He held his face, screaming as it burned, then rolled over as something hit the floor beside him. Jac wrapped his arms around Sano's chest before hauling him up and dragging Sano to the stack of crates and hiding behind it as the battle raged on.

"Sano!" A hand slapped under his cheek as he started to hyperventilate. He took a shuddering breath then opened his eyes to stare at the Jac's moon colored face.

"Run, if you're scared," Jac motioned below deck and Sano fully gathered his wits.

"Who the hell said I was scared?" Sano clutched his shoulder, resisting his instinct to cling to his face and duck down.

Jac smiled and pointed at his forehead, "That might make a cool scar."

"I wouldn't want it too," Sano looked down at Jac's other arm and the long blue spike tightly gripped in it.

"My weapon," Jac stood up and rushed back into the fight, shouting over his shoulder, "You'd better get one too if you want to live!"

His eyes searched the floor and he found what he wanted. Dashing across the deck his hands grasped something cold, fallen from someone's dead hand. The Spawn flopped it's head farther onto the deck, tipping the boat at an angle, and Sano's feet slid with the rain toward the open mouth. He lifted his hands, gripping his claimed weapon tightly.

_**BANG!**_ _**BANG! BANG! **_

The Spawn's open jaws received the bullets and it went past the back of it's throat and out the back of it's neck. The Sin Spawn cried out before clamping down on the nearest thing to it. Sano jumped, his body curling up instinctively, then he just felt slimy and wet. Muscles contracted around his body and he smelled the most Yevon awful thing he had ever had nightmares about smelling. Iron coated the inside of his nostrils and his body slid in an almost solid paste that stuck and clung to him like gel.

The teeth cracked together around him and the Spawn's tongue flipped him around to try to adjust him under the sharp points. He, a moment before the teeth crashed down, pushed against the back of the fangs and slid farther into the mouth until he was in the back. Grasping the uvula, he held on and tensed up.

"No way!" Itgu, a board gripped in his hands, watched as Sano's body, still intact, swung in the back of the thing's throat as it gagged and kept coughing, opening and closing its mouth to show what Sano was doing.

Kodai sent a black tendril around its jaw and pried it open, "Trenraka get out of there now!"

"H-hol-d on, " Sano took a stronger hold of the slimy organ with one arm before carefully reaching down into his pant line, where he shoved the gun in a hurry. He pulled it up and then closed his eyes.

_**BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!**_

He didn't know how much it had originally but the gun clinked empty and he threw it down with all his might. The Spawn gurgled in it's mouth before fully falling onto the deck with a splat. It's heavy body slipped from the deck, dying, and kept going back into the ocean, all parts of it retreating with it, pyreflies exploding from it's dissolving skin.

"TRENRAKA!" Kodai reached out with his one hand as Sano clambered out of it's mouth. The jaw clamped shut and he cried out as his shin and calf was engulfed in searing pain. The water filled his ears as he heard a crash of the sea and saw the wild white swirl around his head. He jerked up, red also filling his vision, but he couldn't kick his leg free.

He felt hands wrap around his body and then he felt a tug under his shoulders. He felt his skin rip but then become light. He mentally sighed in relief but screamed into the water as his body squirmed against the arms and his nerves prickled with angry fiery pain, radiating from his leg. He couldn't keep his eyes open and he decided just to close them all together.

* * *

><p>"Sir!" Uno came sputtering back up to the surface and called out to Bask, leaning over the railing, "I's got 'im!"<p>

"Good job, Mydo-boy," Bask smiled faintly but looked back over his shoulder at the men shuffling around, counting the dead, helping the survivors, "Someone bring rope! We've got two boys overboard!"

Uno spat at the water and yanked Sano up to the surface. His head bobbed back but he moaned so he knew he wasn't dead. Kicking with all his strength he had left, feeling it quickly fading, he made it to the side where a rope hung, dangling.

Sano's eyes flickered, they were blurred with pain and wet tears pooled in his eyes, "Wh-w-"

"Hey," Uno almost laughed but swallowed a wave of water instead, coughing and fighting back up. Once breaking the surface, he shook his heavy water-laden head. Laughing again, this time succeeding, he smiled broadly, "Way to go's Sano."

"I-" Sano felt his leg burn fiercely and everything was foggy in his vision.

"Look, I got's youse buddy, don't youse worry."

"B-bu-what did you say?" Sano croaked before his neck gave out and his head flopped back. He kicked at the water with the leg that didn't hurt and he still felt a chunky arm behind his shoulder blades, "U-uno?"

"Buddy!" Uno shouted, the habit of whispering when someone was wounded apparently never applied to him, "I call's youse a buddy, okay buddy?"

"We're friends now?" Sano, bleary eyed, squinted a little past the round face. Pain muffled his senses, and he couldn't see that well.

"Uh, duh," Uno flapped his other arm in the water and grabbed a hold of the rope. As they were about to be yanked up, Sano muttered dimly.

"When did that happen?"

"Youse are loopy ain't ya?" Uno smiled, and might've laughed again but boomed instead, "Of course we's are friends, still friends!"

"Friends?" Sano's eyelids closed and he couldn't really remember what else happened until they arrived in Luca.


	8. Harlan

**By Stormytitan**

* * *

><p>His body was cradled in a stretch of fabric, two strangers holding the sides in a makeshift sling as they hauled him off their boat and onto the docks. Kodai tugged on the cloak to cover his linen bandaged nub of an arm and motioned for Bask to receive the boy as soon as the strangers seemed done with him.<p>

Bask's twisted arm had a terrible time trying to grasp Sano, but he used all his strength of his good arm to grab the tattered sheet and gently place him down away from the shaken and unloading passengers. White Mages from Yevon knows where, aid and relief for the horrible accident, shuffled onto the boat and quickly started to tend to the worse off and near dead. No one noticed the boy wrapped up in the discarded tarp.

Pino's pretty milky face pushed her way through the crowd as Captain Nanbu helped her by shoving those in the way, she apologizing as he did. Hoto lazily trailed behind but stopped cold still as Sano's curled body came into view.

"What the Hell happened?" Hoto hissed before staring icily up at the two men responsible for the boy's well being.

"A Sin Spawn-" Bask stepped in front of Sano's body and stood taller, grasping his left shoulder as he did so, "-Attacked the boat. You should be proud Captain, Sano blew the Spawn's head to bits from within its very mouth! Oh, but of course not without injury to himself as you can clearly see."

"He's covered in blood," Hoto growled as he looked over the crumbled form before Itgu muttered in a slightly quivering voice.

"M-most of it isn't his," Itgu wiped his sweaty palms on his darkly stained shirt, "T-there somebody else's and the Spawn's…I guess…"

"His leg is the only thing really hurt, and his shoulder a bit," Bask informed, flicking up his shades with his right hand as his left lay limp beside his lanky body, "He slept like a baby all the way back."

Kodai uncovered his white nub and held it out to Hoto, "I wasn't lucky as he was," He said with a dry chuckle, "I suppose I really must be losing my touch."

"Quite literal," Hoto, despite what he was looking at, received the shape his comrade was in with simple acceptance if it was even that, "So none of the boys were harmed?"

"Sano might not want to move for a while, but more or less, that is correct," Bask pushed a black boot into the back of Sano's shoulders and the boy moaned before curling tighter into a ball.

Pino pulled up her sleeves before smiling at Uno, "I came here to see you, but now I guess I have to work."

"Yeah," Uno blinked, months had passed since he'd seen her last and he was glad he was looking at her in real life instead of a lonely memory. "Good to see youse again, Miz Pino."

"You know her?" Jac leaned in and incredulously whispered into Uno's ear. A chubby nod and a shrug answered him before Uno bent to the ground where Pino chanted and touched Sano's face lightly, the diagonal wound disappearing. It wouldn't leave a scar as it was tended to in time, and Uno knew Sano enough to know that it would be appreciated. Sano's shoulder was next then Pino worked on pulling up the bandages around Sano's leg.

"It's shredded," Uno recalled how it looked when they had pulled him up the deck. Bloody pieces of meat and flesh clinging to the hard white was all that remained of what was once a leg. It looked more puffy now, even swollen, but Pino just hovered her hands over the clotting and chanted lightly. White surrounded Sano's calf and the skin melted into the muscle left and the bone, clearly cracked, mended itself back into place before she lifted her hands away. She couldn't close it up, not enough skin to do it with, and since White Mages just couldn't make something out of nothing, she rewrapped it to heal on its own after doing what little she could for it.

"This boy has some luck," She pressed her hand into Sano's sweaty head, his eyes and face twitching but not opening, "Most grown men have been returned unrecognizable with what just Sin's Spawns can do. And he is still here, with just a hurt leg," Pino then repeated, "Such luck."

"That's not even adding that he was in the thing's jaws," Nanbu rubbed his beard before patting a heavy hand on Pino's shoulders, "Hey, Missy, check on ol' Vicorot for me, hmm?"

She smiled warmly before she slowly got up, "Of course, Captain."

"Yo," Nanbu flicked his thick fingers at the magician commandingly, "Show the nice lady your hand there Kodai."

"There's nothing you can do," Kodai grumbled before he held it out anyways, "There was nothing left to attach. As for infection, I burned the end of it myself to close it up. There shouldn't be anything left for you to do, Ms. Pino."

Hoto sniffed and gestured with a flick of his head at Bask's mangled arm, the sling hanging around his neck dingy and stained after the little encounter with the Spawn, "What happened to you?"

"Oh, Vicorot could explain all that, I'm not quite right in the head you know~!" Bask cheerfully flashed a smile before easing his arm into the sling and neatly rubbing the sides free of the wrinkles, spreading the cloth around casually enough but covering his entire arm from sight anyways.

"Hmph!" Hoto bent beside Sano's head and promptly circled his fingers to flick into the boy's cheek, "Wake up, boy."

"Ah!" Sano's eyes shot open, blinking rapidly for a source of his instant headache and annoyance, before growling up with a distinct moan, "Oh, not you again!"

"Yeah, me again," Hoto let a sleek smile escape his lips, "Now, Trenraka, it looks like you got yourself hurt."

"Nothing really," Sano raised his head to look at his leg before flopping back down to the sheet, almost nauseated from the motion, "Ughh, or it will be."

"Don't try to get up," Hoto patted Sano's blood stained chest before slowly rising, his knees creaking, "Erm, you best not try to do anything reckless like that again. Causes more trouble than it helps."

"Reckless? I saved everybody!" Sano felt his face heat up as the feeling of edginess returned from when it had left him after the boat first tossed to the side from the surprise attack. He felt he had proven himself enough, he wasn't worthless and he could kill something, he didn't want to be undermined or condescended by any lazy pinched face jackass anymore than he wanted to be hurt right then.

"I didn't say you didn't do that," Hoto shook his head and ran a wiry hand though the loose bits of hair that had freed themselves from the oily slicked back hairstyle that the Captain preferred. "Just don't do stuff that'll get you killed, alright? At least until your leg closes up, dumb-dumb."

"Pah! It's noth-" Sano jerked up, curling his leg under his body, and the tender skin was smashed against his weight. He howled in a mix of surprise and pain before untangling his legs and cringing.

Hoto shook his head again, his falcon eyes half-lidded, "Look-"

"Oh, shut up," Sano slowly and cautiously uncurled his body from the fetal position he had instinctively pulled himself into, "I don't want to hear any lectures right now."

"Don't back talk," Hoto testily snarled before looking up at Bask, "The rest of them are fine, right?

"Right, right," Bask wagged a hand through the air and then grinned his trademark cat smile, something none had seen in quite some time since his 'accident', "Oh Captain~Hoto, you're looking just as mean as ever! What's on your mind? You have been in a right _terrible _mood since you first got here. M-hmm, does it have anything to do with the fact that you're back from your missions two full months early?"

"We start advanced training today," Hoto blinked, not even hinting that the Alchemist's words even touched him, though one could suppose they had by the way he briskly bit the sentence out. The Captain turned to the Black Mage, "I apologize. However, if you think any of these boys would be good for an apprentice, you're still free to take them."

Kodai dipped his head low, in gratitude one would think, but his face was a stony cold mask. "We shall see."

Nanbu stepped and bellowed, "Alrighty then! Off back to Bevelle for training, right?"

"Well-" Hoto drug the word longer than usual and looked down at Sano's leg, blood seeping from it again as the boy opened it in his attempt to look tough, "It doesn't look like Sano's going to train on that leg. Not physically anyways."

"So?" Nanbu scratched his chest before shrugging, "We'll just hit the books then, right? All of 'em got to get some reading in their heads before we go any farther with this."

"Indeed," Hoto then sighed and shook his head dismally, "I'd hate to do this…"

"Hate to do what, Hoto?" Nanbu raised a brow curiously.

Hoto leaned forward a bit before reaching behind him and into his pouch, his fingers fumbling for a cigarette, "I don't want to right now, as I've said, but we're going to the Moonflow-" He stuck the butt in his mouth and bit the end before finding a match in a front pocket of his uniform, "- I believe all the books we need are in that precise location." He finished and brought the sulfur match to flame and stuck the yellow end to his cigarette.

"The Moonflow?" Sano's heart screamed 'Finally!' and he smiled wide, "Is-"

"We'll go to the base there," Hoto frowned, before looking up at the Alchemist from his lighted end, "Well Bask, considering the circumstances I suppose you can come along too if you want, but don't cause any kind of trouble alright? Not without my say so, understand?"

"Oh, I understand," Bask's smile spread until it nearly split his white face in half, "I understand completely."

"Good," Hoto turned to Nanbu, "Help the kid up, we're going to stay the night here and head out in the morning."

"All fine with me," Nanbu bent down and hoisted Sano up over his shoulder like a sack. Sano growled in the back of his throat but said nothing as the group started to move out, Groto following closely to Vicorot Kodai, Jac helping to lead Bask as he still had trouble walking, Itgu rubbing chills that still danced over his arms from the trip, Uno walking beside Pino, and quickly catching up with all of them, Nanbu and Hoto.

"So," Hoto fell behind Nanbu and looked straight ahead at Sano's irritated face from where it hung over the muscled shoulder, "You jumped into the thing's mouth or did it swallow you up first, boy?"

"Both in a way," Sano raised his head up before placing a bony elbow into Nanbu's meaty back and dropping his chin into his palm, "It wasn't very pleasant, as _this _isn't either."

"You're going home boy, sound a bit cheery why don't you?" Hoto raised a corner of his mouth in a smirk, "Hmm, kid?"

"I'd rather be-" Sano started to hiss but was cut off by a rough toss of Nanbu's arm, adjusting the weight needlessly.

"Bah! You're going home kid," Nanbu smiled broad and white, "Smile!"

"Never," Sano's lips twitched at the corners before he let his body hang dead weight.

Up ahead, Uno let Pino do all the talking as he answered with 'uh-huh's' and 'no's not really's.'

After some time of this, Pino placed a warm hand on his shoulder, "I've really missed you, Uno."

"Yeah," Uno's voice sounded froggy as he looked up at her perfectly framed face, her platinum blond bangs brushing against her soft cheek bones, "I's knows I's missed you Miz Pino."

"I could hug you right now!" Pino exclaimed happily before closing her crystal blue eyes into semi-circles. "It's so good to see you again. I've missed you dearly."

"I's wouldn't mind a hug," Uno admitted with a smile, "I's missed them's too."

Pino's face lighted up with his words before returning to the sugar toned skin and naturally blushing cheeks, "There' s something you want to ask, so ask it, Uno dear."

He held back from blurting out what he wanted to say and instead asked, "How's ol' man, Vimo?"

"Fine," Pino curled her hand into his wide palm, holding hands with him like the often did on errands from the orphanage, "He's getting older by the day, but no change as to his health or view on life."

"Tha'z good to hear," Uno curled his fingers around this small white hand, swallowing down his blush, "Heh, it feels like forever since I've seen youse guys."

"Almost two full seasons now, since you left in the spring. Yevon, how time flies!" Pino put a hand to her face and shook it gently, "It only seems like yesterday you were on that cot in that cold temple."

"Yeah's I know's what youse mean," Uno squeezed the hand and the hand squeezed back, "I'z been different, but I's got used to it."

Pino nodded, "Oh, me too, I have to do a lot of things now without my little helper!"

"Heh, sorry I's can't help youse," He slapped the back of his moist neck, perspiration gathering as he felt

nervous. Pino always looked very pretty but even more now as he missed her.

"No, no worries, you're getting to see the world," Pino smiled, "You got to see Kilika, and now Luca, and I know you can see a lot on the way up from Bevelle."

"Oh, yeah, lots," Uno sniffed in and thought about the nice locations he wanted to stay at longer, "They's were real fancy places in Spira. I's kinda wan' tah go back to a few of 'em."

Her clear laugh met his ears comfortably and he smiled awkwardly as it made his ears bright red, the sound tickling the tips of them.

She finished her laugh and brought her head back forward from where she had tilted it back, "Yes," She said, " And I suppose you ought to go back to them again Uno. You really should."

* * *

><p>"Hey, so..." Groto sat on his side of the hotel room on the edge of the bed, Itgu laying beside him quietly as he deeply tried to blur out the disturbing images from the boat ride. Groto smiled a bit when Uno's attention turned to him, away from the brightly lit city, shining in a myriad of colors and illuminating the pudgy face through the glass of the hotel room's window.<p>

"Yeah's whut?" Uno raised a thick black eyebrow.

"That Missus Pino-" Groto's green eyes fell to the bedspread, "-Heh, well, if you don't mind me asking Uno, do you like her?"

A blush rose, "Uhm, n-no w-why do youse ask?"

"It's nothing to be ashamed of, Uno." Jac looked at Itgu and gestured for him to move to Uno's bed, before placing himself on the side that Itgu once occupied, "After all, she's…cute, right?"

As Itgu made his way to the second bed, he somewhat regained his old composure and attitude, "Yeah, Uno, she's hot!"

"Don't youse say tha' about Miz Pino!" Uno bared his teeth and Itgu visibly shrunk.

"Come on, Uno, don't mind Itgu too much, he's-" Jac's eyes darted to the form that flopped heavily into the bed, "-Well, he's having a time with the- thing that happened on the boat."

"The dead dude?" Uno snapped his teeth shut as Itgu's pale grey eyes lifted from the pillow, "Buh! Sorry..."

Groto's picked at the cuticle of his thumb with his other thumb nail, "I-itgu, it'll be hard, but it'll be okay...I mean-"

"I had it coming," Itgu sighed into the white mass of mattress, "I made fun of Sano for being to chicken, so I had it coming."

"I can't say you deserved it," Jac looked at the decorated with the same repeating diamond pattern carpet, "After all, what type of punishment would that be? But you were wrong, and yes, you got your just desserts in one way. Though it shouldn't have been… like that…"

"Did it scare youse that much?" Uno blared, almost sounding as if he was in disbelief, before a head shot up from the mattress and glared.

"Would you drop it?!" Itgu snarled before shooting daggers at the other two boys, "I'm not a head-case from it, if that's what you're asking!"

"No one is asking that," Jac growled back, "We're just making sure you're alright."

"No one's asked Sano if he's alright with it!" Itgu pointed at the bolted door, which past it and across the hall, Sano was sleeping, trying to recoup as much of his strength and rest his leg while he could before the journey to the Moonflow the next day.

"Well," Groto started quiet-toned, his red head ducking down into his shoulders meekly, "H-he didn't seem all that bothered by it…"

"Yeah," The chunky boy nodded, agreeing, "Sano's had it tough."

Itgu bit, his tone rising into defensiveness, "Yeah you would know wouldn't you? You're that sissy boy's fat buddy, ain't ya?"

"Hey!" Uno roared, "That ain't nice! I's means it! Sano had it tough, Im's telling youse! That's the only reason he didn't let that dead guy scare him none."

"Oh, and as if _you_ weren't scared at all?!" Itgu shot back.

"He did run up and stab the Sin Spawn in the eye," Jac pointed out acidly, red hues narrowing through the dim light across the space between the hotel beds. "What did you do, Itgu? Hyperventilate in the corner, that's what! Haven't you figured it out that you have no room to make fun of anyone? Just because Sano turned out to be way tougher than you-!"

"Haven't _**you**_ figured out that you have no right to talk down to me like I'm freaking beneath you?!" Itgu hurled his words out from the top of his voice, "And Sano isn't tougher than me!"

"Why does it matter?" Groto shouted over all of them, but went unheard as Jac jumped to the floor, and stood his full short height, "What's with you?!"

"What's with you?!" Itgu repeated back angrily, "How can you people be alright with all that blood? It's sick that you all can pretend that nothing happened!"

"You're acting like you're the only one that has it rough. Don't you think we've all had it hard? Don't you know that the Sin Spawn and dead bodies everywhere didn't scare the pants out of the rest of us?" Jac took in a big breath to shout more efficiently, "Of course it did! But that's the world we live in! People die, people fight to live, people fight so that others won't die. Get it through your thick skull that you're not the only one that matters, and you just have to keep living the best you can! Even Sedevan can figure that out!"

Groto gulped at mention of his name, and lowered his head even further into his body at the heated stare from Itgu.

"So what?" Itgu mumbled.

"So's," Uno took a step closer, his brow knitted, "It ain't nothing to be mad at the rest of us for. Youse're just mad at us for thinking Sano was pretty tough. An' youse mad at Sano for taking it better than youse. But, it ain't no one's fault and it ain't nothing to take out on others. Youse are really just mad at yourself for's not being able to fight when youse was scared. An' youse can't admit it…youse was scared."

The last bit of words sent Itgu's eyes to narrowing, "I wasn't scared."

A sigh pushed through Uno's thick lips, "It ain't nothing to be scared of now. Sano killed it. An' it was pretty bad that all those guys died, but youse will just have to get over it."

"Fine," Itgu spat before falling back into the bad, his arms crossed tightly over his chest.

Groto slid under the covers and let his head sink into the pillows before Jac jumped into bed beside him. Uno lowered his weight next to Itgu, getting an irritated look from it, before he mumbled, "G'nite."

No one answered him and he let out a big puff of air before laying down,

* * *

><p><em>Sano was running down the path, midnight black darkness all around him and frightening him terribly at every shadowy turn. He was breathing hard when he finally reached the neighbor's door and slammed his little fist into it over and over again, "Help me! Please! Something's wrong with my mommy!" <em>

_It took forever for the door to be swung swiftly aside, a lifetime almost, and he breathlessly shot out, "Come quick, please! Something's wrong with Gemmie and Mommy!"_

"_Calm down, now tell me what's happened." The woman bent over her robed knees, her hair falling out of the ribbon she had tied it back with. Sano took a sharp gasp of air before yelling frantically._

"_Mommy was sitting at the bottom of the stairs and there was red stuff soaking her skirt." Sano, impatient and scared, gripped the woman's hand and began to pull, screaming, "It's Gemmie, I know it! Something's wrong!" _

"_Good Yevon," The woman with frizzy bed-hair squeaked and evidently agreed with him as she turned to her husband, "Get a doctor and take him to the Trenraka's house. Oh dearie, stop pulling on me and calm down, we'll help you!" The last part was said to Sano who was desperately trying to guide her out of the house._

"_But-!" Sano started, his hand still tight around hers. _

"_Come in here," The woman swooped him up easily, despite his struggling and desperate wiggling, and walked with him into her house, "We'll handle everything. Your Mommy will be alright. You just sleep here," She plopped him on her couch, "And be good while we go help her, hmm?"_

_Sano wordlessly nodded, his hands tightly gripping the material of his pajama pants. His eyes darted around the room before he shouted at her quickly rushing away back "But, wait-!"_

"_-What if Mommy needs me too?" He said to the empty room._

_His mouth jutted up into a pout before he started to slide off of the couch side. Kotone needed him now, more than ever. Sano took off at a brisk trot through the house before swinging out the front door and rushing after the demanding and answering shadows that headed towards his house from different directions. _

_He ducked his head under the eye of the neighbor-lady, in case she'd send him back, and hopped back into his house again behind an adult who was letting in another one. He was pushed to the side, into the hallway wall, before he ran into the dining room for safety and crawled into the corner he'd later hide in during the funeral. _

_The night ticked on, as evident by the rhythm of the grandfather clock in the family room, and Sano laid his head into his folded arms settled on his knees as the panicky tone died down to a quiet professional atmosphere. The doctor was checking his mommy upstairs in her bedroom, he guessed as people talked about it as they walked up and down the stairs. _

"_I might be that man's fault, you know…"_

"_Shush!" _

_Sano's ears prickled, hearing every hushed word clearly.  
><em>

"_Well it might be!" The voice, female and older, quivered, "Why, I wouldn't know what I'd do if my husband just left and never came home- ever! It would upset me too!"_

"_Don't talk about it in her house! You know Kotone is delicate about the subject of-."_

"_What kind of man just up's and abandons his home, wife, and children? The nerve, really!' _

"_Will you be quiet woman?" The other lady nearly begged._

"_And now she might lose the baby, because of all this!"_

"_Oh, stop it!" The woman hissed, but not before Sano felt a stone thud into his stomach and root him to his spot on the floor._

_Lose the baby? Lose Gem?!_

_Sano jumped up, his feet fighting the floorboards, before he swung his way around the corner and to the stairs, where the doctor was walking down it slowly with Yagi and Mia trailing behind him, nervous-eyed and anxious. The neighbor ladies were shown out the door before the doctor sighed heavily, sadly, and turned to look at the children's faces that stared at him expectantly. _

_Sano's mouth quivered as the mustached-man spoke, and continued gravely, before he broke and burst into tears, barely understanding most of his words, some of the more complicated things, but knowing one truth. _

_Mommy was sick._

_And Gemmie was dead._

"Boy," He got a light shake to his chest before he opened his slender eyes confusedly, "Wah?"

"Dreaming?" Captain Hoto's face was barely outlined and marked by the city lights that filtered into the window, illuminating his face with different colors and shades. Sano blinked, feeling a lonely drop of liquid slide down the corner of his eyes, before he hastily wiped at them and nodded.

"Ah, that's r-right. I was just-" Sano swallowed hard, "-A dream…"

He remembered the details from the night, but he hadn't relived them so clearly before. Sano shivered, and sent a quick prayer that he wasn't going to dream about that day ever again. His mother, Gem, and brothers had only recently stopped haunting his every dream and thought. He would've preferred it stayed that way.

Hoto raised his head, before leaning back into the chair beside the bed, his neck lowering and his hands folded over his lean stomach. When Sano lifted a brow in his direction, the Captain nearly muttered, "To make sure you keep breathing."

"That so?" Sano scrunched his nose, "Well, I'd like it if you left."

Hoto was already half-asleep again as he muttered, "You might as well go to sleep, boy, I ain't leaving."

* * *

><p>Sano limped beside an equally limping Bask, Uno assisting him in his walking as Jac did the instructor. The dirt path was familiar, following a line of trees that breathed with the light of the Moonflow, and an achingly familiar three story house with coffee colored paint and cream colored shudders peeking through the trees rose to meet his eyes.<p>

They passed the last turn on the path before Sano realized they were heading, without fail, towards his childhood home.

"Captain Hoto sir, are we-?" Sano swallowed the rest of his question as Hoto looked over his shoulder at him with barely a smile on his lips, almost woeful looking. Sano felt unnerved by it and refocused on the porch and the chicken hutch that was out in the front yard.

"Wait here," Hoto held up his hand and the instructors nodded in understanding and complied before the tall Captain made his way up the steps to the door. He knocked, and when no answer came, he calmly went down the stairs of the porch and flipped over a stone in the walkway, finding the spare brass key underneath it, right where the Trenraka family had always left it.

"How did you know where we kept the spare key?" Sano's voice seemed out of place, so much deeper now then when he was younger, and he looked at everything distantly as everything seemed so much smaller compared to him now. It only made sense, of course, because he had grown over the near five and a half years, but it didn't make the place any less strange to him now. The key in the Captain's hands shined dully in the rising sun and Hoto merely shrugged after Sano asked his question.

"It's where most people stick a spare."

The lock clicked and Hoto shoved the door open before an explosion and a 'twing!' bounced off the metal gate that the group passed through not moments before. Hoto held up his hands besides his head, backing up very slowly as a threatening rifle barrel was pointed at his throat.

"You've got some nerve!" Mia's sassy and undeniable voice sliced through the air as she and her lithe form stepped out from the house, pushing Hoto backwards with the rifle tight in her hands. "You lying, slimy, frigid deserter! Do you know how many months ago you said you'd bring Sano? Four! I've been counting them! And what do you bring back instead? A group of your wayward Yevon lackeys and-"

"Mia!" Sano smiled and stood straighter, "Mia, it's me, Sano!"

"Sano?" Mia lowered the rifle a bit and Hoto sighed in relief from the freed tension of the gun before putting a hand to his chest. Mia dropped the weapon with a rattle against the porch's boards before pushing past the Captain and wrapping her long arms around Sano's narrow neck, "Oh I've missed you so much little brother!"

"M-Mia," Sano coughed as her arms tightened around his neck, he pulled on her shoulder, being able to reach it now, before falling down on one knee as his bad leg quaked with pain, "M-mia you're choking me and my leg is-"

"Oh!" She still held his head in her breasts, and Sano blushed as Itgu snickered about the gushy reunion and awkward position. Mia tilted her head back to look down into his face, so more mature than the eight year old she remembered, and then widened her eyes, "What about your leg?"

A few moments and an only half told explanation later...

A screech of hate and anger ripped through the trees causing birds to fly away from their perches, startled. Mia's voice screamed with a razor edge to her insult, "You son of a bitch!"

* * *

><p>"Damn, child, where did you learn to hit that hard?" Hoto rubbed the back of his neck, his lip split, a black eye on his right pinched lids, and a swollen cheek from where he bit it when the woman pummeled him mercilessly.<p>

"You could say I got it from my father," Mia turned from the counter where she beat eggs at and frowned, "Though I'd like to think it's from my mother."

"Hmm," Hoto looked at Sano, his eyes scanning over his face for any strange reactions before turning back to Mia, "You don't say?" He chuckled.

Sano cleared his throat, "Captain Hoto, Sir?"

"Yeah?"

"Is this the base you were talking about?" Sano looked around the ever familiar kitchen, the same place he made hot chocolate for himself or got a midnight snack in the youngest days of his youth. If this was an assassin's base all along, how come he never heard about that?

"Rarely used, but yes you can call it a base. Or more of a hide-out actually. A safe house when needed," Nanbu answered for the him and laughed at Hoto's awry and annoyed face, "But- Ha, ha ha!- it doesn't look like it's safe for everybody."

"If he didn't deserve it, it wouldn't have came," Mia narrowed her gray eyes over her shoulder as she went to the ice box and jerked it open, pulling out a glass bottle of milk.

"Well, heaven forbid that you could've spared me a little Mialyn, because I did bring back your brother, as I promised," Hoto ignored the thump in his arm from Nanbu and shrugged, "Even if it wasn't as soon as you hoped."

"I bet you would've kept him longer if he didn't bang himself up," Mia poured a bit of the cold liquid into the yellow eggs, fogging them up. She grabbed a wooden spoon from a ceramic cylinder before asking Sano as she faced the mixing bowl, "So, you're telling me you honestly just slipped on a tree root in Kilika Woods, Sano?"

Sano absently tapped the wood top of the table with his fingers, his dirty nails making clacks on the surface, "Yes, those damn tree roots are too fucking hard to stand on."

"Ah!" Mia gasped at his wording and only then did he realize how incorrect his answer was. He coughed and then remembered that Mia still remembered a little eight year old boy with a maturity complex instead of the 'man' he had grown into.

"Erm, sorry, what I meant was-"

"No, it's fine," She sighed and mixed the bowl of melted butter with the eggs and milk, "I understand. Being in the army can make you so crude."

Actually being out in the woods in a tent surrounded by nothing but your peers and one teacher that didn't give a damn how he worded things would make him crude. But he didn't bother correcting her and checked his manners as he thought about what else the stay in Kilika might have done to him, especially when it came to eating habits. Then he realized that it may have been more than that, like the things he picked up at the orphanage changed him too, he realized. He went back over proper manners in his mind and made a mental note to stick to them all around his dear sister.

"So, Mialyn, was that your name?" Pino, her hands folded neatly in her lap and sitting on a stool that was placed in front of the kitchen bar directly beside the counter space, piped up with her smooth bell ringing voice.

"Yes, call me Mia," The body of the woman, almost like a stranger to Sano but sickly familiar, swayed as she hummed a tune low in her throat like Kotone sang to her swelled belly.

"Ms. Mia," Pino's blue eyes fell to the granite bar top, "Well, thank you for letting us stay. I realize it's sudden but-"

"Oh, don't you apologize White Mage," Mia made a dip in the center of the dry ingredients bowl before pouring the egg-milk-and butter combination into the hole. She grabbed a different spoon and mixed it until it was transformed into a smooth batter, speaking as she did so, "I know you have no control over what these yahoos do. They're 'military men' and this was- no, is- a safe house. This used to happen all the time as I remember, though in recent years it seemed to stop." Mia spat her last bit of her explanation before she poured the thick batter into a pitcher with a Chocobo's head gracefully etched across the top to make it seem like its beak was the gentle curve on the jug.

"I'm sorry then, little Mia," Nanbu had his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, as he rested his arms on the tabletop, "Please forgive us and Captain Hoto for barging in on you after-hmm, what was it...how long has it's been? A long time I'm sure. Why, you were only so big when we were last here."

"I'd say so, about thirteen years, almost fourteen, since you last showed your faces around here, " Mia bounced on her heels a bit before letting the pancake batter fall onto the soapstone griddle from the Chocobo's beak. The cakes rose like little cushions on stools, small volcanoes forming and erupting on their surface until the pancakes was ready to be turned. Mia took the spatula and flipped them over one by one revealing the cheerful brown of the underside with the tracings of darker tan. The kitchen filled with the sweet tantalizing smell of them and Sano found his mouth watering before he stole a glance at Uno, practically going nuts waiting for a taste of them.

The sides of the pancakes turned white, hissing against the side of the soapstone as Mia flipped them onto their upper sides, before settling into a fluffy kind white.

"Sano, can you get the syrup?" Mia continued to cook as Sano began to rise.

"I'll get it," Hoto scooted his chair with a rattle of wood against wood from the legs, before he eyed Mia carefully, "Could you tell me where it is, Miss Mia?"

"Sure," She looked at him strangely before gesturing to the icebox, "You'll find it in there, Captain _Hoto._"

She put such emphasis on the name that Sano looked up at her with questioning eyes, which she replied with a wink and a pink tongue between her puckered lips.

The kids got a plate of pancakes first before Mia went back to the stove for more. Itgu smothered his hot cakes with the syrup before even lifting his fork to poke at it. Uno devoured it hungrily without the syrup as Groto and Jac dug in, licking their fingers from the stickiness. Sano took more care from the adhesiveness as he picked at his with the end of his fork and chewed carefully.

It was strange being in the room again, but he felt so content with it all at the same time.

Later, he claimed his leg felt better and he made his way outside with the rest of the boys as he followed Mia. She gave him a basket as he restlessly fidgeted and told him to fill it up with eggs from the hutch. It was his chore a long time ago, so he found no real difficulty in completing it swiftly, even with his bum leg, but he did find a annoyance arise as he apparently still didn't have a way with chickens. Coming back with red specks on the back of his arms and hands and a basket full, his eyes begged for more to do.

Idleness freaked him out now. If he wasn't doing something in this place than unexpected and unwanted memories started to creep back up, crawling from his stomach to his chest cavity and settling in this throat. He always wanted to come back home, and couldn't be happier, but the memories came with it and spoiled most of the joy.

He wasn't the only one in a terrible mood as Hoto floated around with his hands in his pockets. Sano ran into the moody Captain at one point in the day as he focused on balancing a pole with a bucket of water on each side across his wide shoulders. His leg made it hard to manage the particular job, though he wouldn't admit it because that would've meant Mia was right in at first refusing to let him take care of Yagi's old chore. He bent his knees, painfully, before relieving himself of the weight.

"You shouldn't be doing that," Hoto took a long drag of his cigarette, frowning, "We're here to make you feel better, not break you more."

"It's no work at all," Sano lied a little and rolled his shoulders, "So when are we due to leave?"

"Get better first." Hoto flicked the half smoked stick to the ground before stomping it out.

Sano felt the uneasiness rise from his stomach again and refused to let him freeze up from it, forcing the memories out in one pinch to his side, "Sure."

"What's the matter with you, boy?" Hoto smirked before adding with a tilt in his body, "Don't you like being home?

"I do," Sano muttered, "But there's some things I don't want to think about, and they're right here in front of my face."

"Hmm," Hoto sighed, "I know the feeling."

"You do? How?" Sano blinked upwards as the Captain opened his mouth slowly.

"Boy," Hoto continued cautiously and with so much care that he was barely speaking at all, "Did you ever know your father?"

"No, I never met him," Sano snorted a bit inwardly before looking back towards the house, "And if you couldn't see for yourself, there isn't a lot of 'him' around. No pictures or anything. He left a lot of books but that's all that was left of him."

Sano shifted and Yagi's black pouch, always holding Sano's most precious belongings, none of them really his just Yagi's mementos, moved and settled again inside. Sano readjusted it on his belt, before looking back up at the squinted face staring down at him.

"What?"

"Boy-" Hoto raggedly breathed then stopped as the other boys rounded around the corner of trees, "Nevermind."

"Hey Sano, come look what your sis did!" Itgu waved a hand through the air and the other boys coaxed and encouraged with him.

Sano gave Hoto one last look before leaving with his peers**.**

* * *

><p>The wind howled outside, normal for the area at this time because it was starting to get cooler around the Moonflow and wind just came along that. Sano curled closer under the heavy blanket, just as he remembered it being, and stared at his belongings left behind years ago.<p>

There were books, of course, and collections of models and toy sets. A small wood boat with a gang plank that folded out, board games stacked in a tilted tower, and a striped cat doll from when he was a baby leaning out from the top of his bookshelf, grinning down at him like Bask.

His white door had a poster of a duck with a black jacket holding up it's feathery hand in a thumbs up and a speech bubble beside his head saying "Only 'Quacks' Don't Like Learning" in purple. Sano made a mental note of tearing it down before any of the other boys saw it. A mobile of the stars hung in the corner and a chest under it still held his clothes from when he was eight.

He buried his head into the softness of his pillow, twisting and turning in the oddity he felt from sleeping in a plush bed. He had grown accustomed to ill fitting accommodations and his body was screaming 'what the hell?' from the fluffiness he laid in. The hotel they stayed in Luca was far from 'lush', in fact, it was what one called 'cheap' to say something nice about it, and it was not a hard thing to adjust to that bed, though Sano could obviously feel the difference anyways. Unfortunately this bed, his own bed from childhood, was unbearable.

A branch slapped and scrapped its claws over the window's glass. He gasped before trying to settle back into the bed, telling himself it was stupid to get spooked over nothing.

Eventually he threw the blanket to the floor and wrapped up his legs, moving slowly with the injured one, around in his sheet. He wrestled with the pillow, beating it, before plopping his head dead-weight into its center.

Writhing for a few more minutes, he threw himself on the ground and curled against the carpet, finding it much more comfortable there without the pillow.

He closed his eyes and shivered, dread filling his chest and he didn't know why. The dream from two nights before was enough to make him depressed, remembering the day, but he tried not to think about it. He shook himself hard and curled more around his knees.

Captain Hoto had acted strange all day. Surprising him from around corners and always opening his mouth to say something when they were alone, but never getting it out. Sano brought his knees to his chest and sucked in a slow breath, his eyes narrowing.

What was Captain Hoto going to say?

He closed his eyes, thinking, and then prayed for sleep that would come easy. However, Yevon was apparently busy as he still tossed around. Eventually, Sano decided against spending a sleepless night simply flopping about on the floor and slowly rose from the carpet to open his door. The hallway was dark as he crept though it, careful not to stir the snores through the doors of the guest rooms or his mother's old bedroom, where Mia slept. No sound came from the door on the far right, last before one would reach the stairs, but Sano didn't expect Hoto to make to much noise in his sleep anyways.

Down the steps, he tip-toed quietly towards the kitchen. He stopped and held his breath as the light that was mysteriously turned on and outlined a figure sitting at the kitchen bar. The figure was bent, head in his hands as his long fingers raked through his hair. It didn't take long for Sano to identify it as Hoto but his eyes widened at what Hoto was doing.

Droplets splashed onto the bar top from the streams that ran down in a straight line down the Captain's face. He gritted his teeth and his shoulders shook with every raspy breath he took, no sound escaping his throat but his mouth quivered with whisperings of something.

Sano just stood there, dumbfounded.

He didn't know for how long he stood, or when he first thought about moving, but he found himself creeping in closer and entering the kitchen. An invisible string pulled him by his arm toward the hunched over back, forcing his hand to outstretch and his palm to open up and widen.

His fingers touched Hoto's spine first before his palm met flat with the coarse fabric of Hoto's uniform. The captain flinched openly before swiveling around, his expression revealing that he was surprised at the fact that somebody actually snuck up on him without his knowing.

Hoto blinked before he took a shaking hand and wiped under his eyes casually, like he was just rubbing away sleep or something frivolous like that, before speaking into the already silent night minus the lonely howl of the wind.

"What do you want, boy?"

"Uhm, sir," Sano whispered, for some reason fearing of speaking too loudly and waking someone else up as he was unwilling to let someone see Captain Hoto crying pitifully at the bar, "Uhm…"

"Spit it out, boy, why are you up?" Hoto sniffed in, a bit of fluid catching, before he rubbed his upper part of his long nose, "Out with it."

"Ever had hot cocoa sir? I was up for that. See, I couldn't sleep so I wanted-" Sano stopped awkwardly, shifting and rubbing the back of his neck and adjusted his gave to look at the stove, "I could make some for you too, erm, sir."

"Fine," Hoto turned back to the bar and rested his elbows on it, burying his face in his palms tiredly. Sano leaned on one bare foot to the other, the tender leg sorely whining a bit about that action. A few seconds passed before the boy made his way gauchely toward the cabinet and pulled out the brown powder before redirecting himself to the ice box for milk.

As he waited for the milk to boil, Sano rubbed his arms and scratched a non-existent itch with the top of his good foot against the back of his bad leg, "Uhm sir?"

Damn, he sounded like Groto with all his hesitation to speak.

Hoto grumbled from his palms, not lifting his face, "What?"

"Why are **you **up, Captain Hoto?" Sano bit his lips as the man pulled his hands down, a forlorn look pasted over his usual scowling, frowning, or indifferent face.

"Hnn," Hoto looked at the bar top and thought carefully, choosing his words slowly and almost chewing on each one, "You said, boy, that you never knew your father, is that right?"

"Right," Sano answered lengthily, "But what does that have to do with this?"

"Well, let me tell you a story," Hoto held up his palm even though Sano didn't make a move to say anything, "It won't take long. But you can't interrupt it."

Realizing the Captain wanted an answer from him, Sano nodded warily, "Okay, you have my word."

"Right," Hoto let out a ragged breath before sucking in more air hoarsely, "There was once two people. A man and a woman, and they fell in love like most do sometime in their lives."

Sano made a face. Why the hell was he telling him a love story? It took him a few moments to realize what probably ailed the Captain had a thing to do with the story. Perhaps he wasn't the only one getting nostalgic. Whatever brought the memories in the Captain he wouldn't know, but maybe letting the old man get it out would help. So, he remained silent and still.

"There was one problem with their love though. She was too good for him." A dry sort of chuckle escaped from his lips, "Isn't that how it always is? But, ah, he was not exactly a poor bastard either. He could give her many things, and love her from here to the ends of the stars, but he had one damnable problem. He was already caught up in something, something he couldn't get out of no matter how much he tried."

Hoto sighed, his eyes hooding, "They thought they could work past it though, and so they had a son. She gave up her entire old life for the man and her newborn, deciding that she'd sacrifice anything for them both. Even her previous life, her parents approval... man was moved by this and tried, damn it he tried, to get out of his obligations. But he couldn't and she didn't worry about it."

Sano heard the milk start to simmer and he turned down the heat by feeling for the knob behind his back.

"She didn't worry," Hoto silently sniffed in, before putting his forehead into the palm of one of his hands, "She didn't, and she convinced _him _not to worry about it, can you imagine? And then they had a second child, a girl, before the man ever tried to fight his duties again."

Hoto paused for what seemed like a minute, in truth about fifteen seconds, thinking deeply, before continuing on, "Again he failed to change anything about himself even as his wife changed more and more. She grew old like him, only he couldn't be beside her as they did. They had a third son, then a fourth, and the man didn't see her again for a very long time and never was a proper father to that boy anymore than the others. You see, he was just born, in the latest parts of winter, before the man was forced to leave again."

Sano edged away, a prickly feeling rising up through his nerves, just beneath the skin, "A-and?"

"But he finally bribed someone outside the Assassins Corp. to deliver a letter. He couldn't get away but she came to him, because she loved him, even if he ruined _everything." _

"Captain Hoto, don't-" Sano said forcefully, grim realization finally stretching over his face. he heard the milk boil behind him fully, the bubbles popping violently, but he didn't do a thing about it as he tightly said, "Don't say anything more! I don't want to hear it from you, of all people!"

"Heh," Hoto scooted away from the bar, standing tall, "I knew you wouldn't like it. None of my sons liked it much either. Yagi hardly wanted to accept it at all while Letalis just loathed me. Mialyn doesn't fancy me either, and I don't blame her, after all what have I ever done for you kids?"

"No," Sano shook his head, "Just shut up!"

"Do you know that I changed my name when I became an assassin? A safety issue of course for my family I barely was ever allowed to see." Hoto slammed his fist into his chest and brought his heels together, "Sano, boy, I'm actually Captain Harlan Trenraka from the Bevelle division of the Assassin's Corp. But, more than that, I'm actually your father."

"Shut the fuck up!" Sano's rage surprised Hoto enough to lower his arm. Clearly, he didn't expect or anticipate this violent of a reaction.

Sano's leg didn't allow him to make it to Hoto with much grace, but he still flew at him, "You missed out on the beginning of my whole fucking life! And as if that wasn't enough, you didn't say a single damn thing that first day I walked into the Temple! How the hell could you just ignore my existence like that?"

"Trenraka I never!-"

"After all the times you've nitpicked about me, and instructed me on shooting a rifle, it never occurred to you once to mention that you are my- my-" Sano hissed suddenly, his slanted eyes falling to the floor quickly as he stomped his good foot, "Yevon damn you! Where were you when Mom died? Where were you when Letalis or Yagi died? Are you too damn lazy to make the effort to go see your own family?!"

"Boy, stop it! It's not like that!" 'Harlan', his father, rose to his full height and shouted back at him, "I tried to leave so many times that I've lost count! When Kotone died I-!"

Sano didn't let him finish as he cut in angrily, unhearing to the captain's words, "How could you just abandon your family like you did? How could you abandon Mom, and us, just like that? For Yevon's sake, you probably didn't even know what I looked like, did you?!" Sano took a step away from him, to see him more clearly, before sputtering madly, "I never once met you, you never made the effort to see me. You just abandoned us, damn it, abandoned your own family, for what!?"

"I didn't abandon you!" Harlan yelled before weakly muttering, "Not by choice…"

He shook his head before his voice rose again, "Boy, do you really think that any of the shit I do is by choice anymore?!" Harlan raised his shoulders and cut the air with his arm, his head falling to look at the floor angrily as he ground out of his teeth, "Lady Luck's skirts! To hell with the Assassin's Corp! Why the fuck did you want to join in the first place, Sano?"

He heard his name, coming for the first time from Hoto's lips, his first name. The only thing he could do was dumbly stutter, "W-what?"

"We told you you'd be stuck in this shit-hole of a situation and you were willingly lead into it! I'm asking why would you want that?"

"Want that? What other choice did I have?" Sano gritted his teeth and bit down onto his cheek, "Was I to let myself be kicked out and get swept up into Aryo's and those damn caretaker's clutches again?"

"Didn't you value your freedom? Didn't you?" Hoto loosened his body, his voice still loud but less harsh, "You have none now, Sano. You knew it would be taken from you. You have no choice over anything in your damned life now! You had that choice, Sano, you could of said 'no', you could have ran home to Mia! But you didn't and now you are damned just like me!

You can't be truly friends with anybody because chances are, they'll die. You can't love anyone because most likely they'll suffer from what you do to them and then you can't even have children because they'll hate you or worse, follow in your damn footsteps! Sano do you understand what I'm saying to you? Dammit look at me!"

Sano's head was jerked to face him as Harlan's long fingers dug into the hollows of his cheekbones. The boy looked up darkly, "I understand you, sir."

"Do you?" Hoto gritted his teeth hard, his face twitching, "Are you sure?"

Sano felt calmness spread through his body, a shadowy calmness that often made him think that he was hating silently, "I said, sir, I understand. **Captain**."

The Captain's eyes widened before sinking downward within his sockets. He kept his stare on the boy's equally squinted eyes but his piercing gaze lost power and soon, it was just a weak look.

"Sano, I'm sorry." Harlan's fingers trembled before he set them back to tenseness as Sano tried to pull away from him, "No, keep looking at me, boy. You can hate me, I wouldn't be surprised. Hurt, but not surprised. But, by Lady Luck, you will know that I never, ever, abandoned you, you got that?"

"I got it!" Sano hissed, his hate and a bit of a strange sense of fear boiling up through his arms, and he put his hands against the one that grabbed his face, "Let go!"

"No, you don't," Harlan loosened his fingers a bit but put pressure on the thumb side of Sano's face to tilt his head up to look at him, "I never would've chose this life if I knew that I was going to have you kids, you understand that?"

Sano stared into the eyes, the odd colored eyes, with blackness swimming where white should've been and dark brown that looked so dismally sad and weak at that rare moment. What in the world had his mother loved in this man? Sano couldn't grasp the concept and loathing floated into his chest.

"Look," Harlan finally released him and let his arm fall to his side, "Glare at me all you want. I know I deserve it if not more. I never was a father to you, but I never abandoned you once in my life and I never will."

"I got that," Sano rubbed his jaw, sore from the powerful grip the man had, "Now stop saying it."

"Fine," Hoto sighed, "Fine."

"Whoa," A voice awed and the two harsh looking faces turned from each other to the bubbly face in the door way. Uno gasped and ducked back behind the frame as red, orange, and light brown headed voices cursed and hissed at him for not being quiet.

Bask slapped his forehead and tried to creep back down the hall as Hoto stuck his head around the corner.

Pino, always ashamed of eavesdropping, covered her mouth with her hands and stepped back into Nanbu's broad chest. The other Captain lifted his big hand and rubbed the back of his neck as a sweat drop trickled down the side of his cheek.

"Heh, guess we've been caught," Nanbu reached behind him and took hold of Bask's long white hair to yank him back in place with the rest of the 'guilty' party.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Pino panicked and flapped her arms wildly by her sides, "I-it's just that, we heard yelling and-and, well, we didn't mean to eavesdrop I swear, Captain Harlan- I mean Hoto! It was just uhm,-uh."

"Eh," Nanbu shrugged before putting a muscled arm around Pino's collar bone and bringing her back to him, a blush sneaking onto her face, but effectively silencing her. Nanbu said rather flat-toned, "It's not our fault, Hoto, it's your's for yelling."

"Yeah," Hoto narrowed his eyes, "I guess it is."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Wow, this story is so...seriousy all the time...let's have more humor.  
><strong>


	9. Father

**By Stormytitan**

**A/N: Wow this ended up being a pretty short chapter…**

* * *

><p>"Mia, you lied," Sano grumbled over the two humps of his knees pulled tightly to his chest. The kitchen table was being wiped clean after the breakfast his sister had made them that morning, by none other than Miss Mia herself, while the others drifted off to help the single woman in and around the house. Only Sano, using his sore leg as an excuse, despite the fact that it hadn't really so much as twinged in days, remained free of any chores.<p>

"I didn't lie," Her gray eyes looked up from the wood polish that she was rubbing deep down into the table. Though the extra gesture wasn't necessary since she had used the polish the night before.

It seemed that she kept herself busy to avoid having to talk to any of the 'visitors' that morning. She obviously sensed the still present tension in the atmosphere from the roaring argument that had filtered upstairs and awaken her the night before. So far, she hadn't said more than three words at a time to anyone, excluding Sano naturally. Even though, at the moment, it appeared she'd much rather tidy up then talk to him as she lapsed into silence after her brief words. Her feet swept her away from the table to the sink, where she put the polishing cloth aside, turned on the faucet, and quietly started on the dishes.

"You didn't tell me 'Hoto' was our dad," Sano frowned and his narrow head sunk deeper into his wide shoulders. His thin eyes continued to glare over his folded arms, resting atop his knees, and they bore into his sister's back in an unyielding way. Mia wasn't so easily unsettled however, and ignored him enough to at least say nothing and turn back to the dishes after an over the shoulder glance.

Sano sniffed and let his legs uncurl from the chair, unraveling his shape into an impudent slouch. His fingers knitted together and rested on his stomach as he drawled, "That's lying as far as I'm concerned, Mia. _You_ knew this entire time."

"I didn't say _anything_ about him. And since I didn't mention him at all, I didn't lie," Mia argued before turning the faucet off, leaving the dishes soaking, and briskly walked the length of the kitchen and out of sight around the corner.

Her little brother sniffed again, his head rising as he shouted around the piece of wall his sister swiftly retreated behind, "That's kind of dancing around the issue, isn't it?"

A closet slammed, and with the sound of a following sigh, Mia's voice responded, "Don't you think I was thoroughly confused that you didn't know our own father when he was right in front of you? Harlan's the creep for not telling you. Why am I in the wrong?"

By the time her question was asked, she was right in front of him with a broom in hand.

"Harlan," Sano said at some length, his stare lowering to the floor from his sister's face. "Why the hell is his name 'Hoto' instead of 'Harlan'?"

"He changed his name to protect us, or so he claims," Mia turned with a swish of her skirt and walked over to the kitchen once more, her broom starting to brush the tiles here and there as she went along. When she was in front of the sink, she looked over her shoulder and asked, "Why don't you just ask him yourself, Sano?"

"I don't want to talk to him, or even look at his face," Sano answered moodily.

Mia sighed again, "Like him or not, he's your teacher of sorts right? You're going to have to at least look at his face no matter what you want."

Sano mumbled in return, having already thought of a remedy for that problem, "I'll just stay here with you. I won't have to leave the Assassin's Corp. and die either. I'll just stay here and be a guard for this 'safe house' or whatever will get me to stay."

"Assassin's aren't guards, Sano." Mia shook her head and her shoulders fell downward with an exasperated gesture, "And if it was that easy to stay don't you think the old man would've done it by now?"

"I don't care what he would've or should've done! I just want to stay." Sano crossed his arms under his chest, irritably growling from the corner of his pursed frown, "I hate him more than ever now!"

"Oh dear," Mia shook her head and her broom was carelessly propped against the wall. She had already swept that morning, and though breakfast left a little mess, it wasn't much. She flexed her fingers, obviously searching for something to do, before turning to fully face Sano and said softly, "I can see why you hate him, Sano. I mean, I don't like him much either. But I can also see that it wasn't his fault. You're still a kid so I know you probably don't want to understand. But, you just have to know that father doesn't really have his luck cut out for him...Alright, Sano?"

Sano rolled his eyes and scoffed, "Like I care."

At the rude gesture, Mia pulled her full lips tightly against her teeth and her hands flew to the side of her hips, "Now listen here, Little Man! You're only upset because you _do _care," Sano had, in surprise, wordlessly lifted his head back up and stared at Mia rigidly, which she met with her own glare of sorts. After a little time of their silent battle of the eyes had passed, Mia claimed victory by waving a blinking Sano away with the order of- "Go. Your leg isn't hurting near as bad as you pretended it did."

"I don't want to see him," Sano narrowed his eyes at his sister as he stood from the chair, "I don't."

"Too bad," Mia twisted her face a bit, her head tilted down to look at him fully, "You can't always get what you want."

* * *

><p>After having the official pleasure of being kicked out the door, Sano waited out on the porch steps for something to dare approach him. A barn cat, apparently a stray that Mia more or less adopted, waltzed up to the challenge and his healing leg to rub the length of it's black body against him.<p>

Sano made the most nastiest face at it for a moment, before loosening his body in one long breath, after realizing the cat remained indifferent to whatever was in the human container that it demanded attention from. Sano plopped onto his rear on the steps, and reached down to stroke the silky soft fur of the little beast. A deep purr reverberated in the sleek creature's throat as it was pleased by the scratches behind its graying ears.

The cat's hazy eyes stared up at him in that moment and bore into him intensely, in the strange way that cats have a tendency of doing at odd and random moments. Sano didn't blink or advert his own eyes, having an intense stare himself, and his pupils connected with the cat's slitted ones without so much as wavering. The cat, seeming more pleased with something, closed its eyes contentedly and butted its small face into Sano's slightly bent palm.

Uno blinked from where he crouched in the rose bushes, pulling weeds for Miz Mia from the flowers that were planted decoratively around them. So far, he had yet to be seen, and he preferred it stayed that way.

After all, Sano had been more than royally pissed with him since last night. Which wasn't too different from the usual, unfortunately, since Sano had reverted back to his old ways like before the trip with Bask in Kilika since the boat ride back to the mainland. Uno confusedly scrunched up his face as he thought, _Why can't people just make up their minds already? _Referring to Sano, and every other person who just couldn't be consistent if it would save their lives. Grumpy one day, alright the next. Nice and pretty friendly another day, to downright nasty for seemingly no reason at all.

Uno plopped a dirt-streaked chin into his equally dirty palm, which adjoining arm was resting on his crossed knees as he sat on the ground, hidden behind the greenery and red buds. And there he sorted his thoughts, occasionally lifting his dark eyes to peer through the leaves at Sano petting Hiko, Miss Mia's cat.

Sano had always been a friend so to speak. Admittedly, Sano was harder to approach than the other boys, that was always evident, but Uno found it hard to really detach himself from the thin boy named Sano. Though, it was almost equally as hard for him to attach himself in any other way other than just a simple respect for him too. Well, he knew they considered each other peers, and they were comrades of sorts and fellow cadets. But friends?

Sano seemed okay with the idea when he had fallen off the boat. Though, he was pretty loopy and hadn't said a thing about it since then. With the way the boys was acting now, it was doubtful he did remember. Or if he did, he didn't care, which might have come with a good excuse this time, since his curt words had only been more or less directed at Uno or Harlan. Uno figured that Sano had a right to be mad. Uno was the first one to start listening in on the argument with Captain Hoto, was the first caught, and hadn't really found the chance to apologize for it yet.

Uno pushed his thick brows down into his eyes and yanked up a stubborn weed. When it was ripped from its home, he sunk his head down into his shoulders with a muffled sigh.

Sano was a bit of a trouble maker, close to being called a delinquent, and he really didn't care about much of anyone beyond himself. He was pretty selfish and self-centered, and on most usual cases, Uno would avoid people like him. He was a 'good' kid and tried not to mingle with what was considered a 'bad' kid, which Sano could easily be classified as.

The boy smoked, stealing the sticks when the opportunity arose, and had a quick temper if his cool demeanor was even slightly provoked past a certain point, which had took Uno all this time to identify. Sano was free with insults, not too unpracticed with blasphemy, and couldn't even be called 'warm' on his good days. The only attribute of a 'bad' kid that was missing was that he wasn't necessarily a 'bully', as that right was reserved for Itgu.

People often referred to kids like Sano, and Itgu too, as 'troubled'. Somewhere in their lives, something didn't go well, and they were considered 'troubled' for the rest of their days. Despite being troubled though, Uno witnessed rare moments when Sano acted normal, almost nice. And it was at these times that Uno really felt that they could, or even were, friends.

But then Sano, without fail, would draw back into himself again when just a little bit of adversity crossed their paths. Sano would get angry (which was all too often) or upset, and all would be lost. The friendship would have to start on square one again. Unless of course there was a square zero. Then sometimes, like now, they'd be on that step.

But, did that make him give up? Of course not! Uno Mydo doesn't give up when his gut tells him something. Though he couldn't understand exactly why he wanted to be friends with Sano so bad. The boy was mentally exhausting to keep after in his moods, and it was tiresome trying to drag Sano out of his shell time and time again. But, when his gut told him to do something...

Uno let out another sigh, Sano still not noticing him. Uno watched him start to scratch the cat's belly past the green leaves, which had been exposed to him in a simple flip onto the beast's back.

Going against his usual compulsion to stay away, Uno tried to be friends with Sano over and over and over...until he had lost count how many 'overs' there was. He was finding it harder to deny that for some reason he wanted them to be friends, good friends, best buddies. They were at times, like at night, when they talked in hushed whispers while the others slept, and when they ran in step with each other at the back of a jogging line. But, that seeming connection would melt away past that moment in Sano's eyes, but not for him.

He could still say, with confidence, 'Yeah, I'm kinda like youse. Different from everyone else, same as youse.' even when the reasons weren't obvious.

There wasn't a great deal of things they shared in common. Besides residing in an orphanage, that which all the boys had in common, there was nothing that put them on the same level. Sano had a better I.Q., faster wit, more presence, and could manage to complete tasks without looking too clumsy or dopey.

While Uno couldn't get anything right and fumbled around with everything he ever did. Sano wasn't strong, and he was, but muscle didn't amount to much. After all, what's muscle going to do against a gun? Everyone, even rebels, fought big battles with guns, it was just the world they lived in. A bit of jealousy filled his being from that fact, but Uno also had a powerful admiration stemmed from that same observation for Sano that drowned it.

But, when they talked to each other, on pretty decent days, something seemed to feel the same between them, something they shared. It could be possible that the immense gap between their characteristics and traits made their friendship even more difficult, or easier. Uno couldn't tell.

And it probably didn't matter. Uno smashed the soft dirt under his meaty fist quietly, pressing hard down against the ground. If one could say that they had a friendship before the confession from Hoto, and his own eavesdropping, then they certainly didn't now, because the incident put Sano in the worst of sour moods with him.

Looking over the dark green broad leafed bushes, Uno could see now a content smile lightly brushing over Sano's lips as the barn cat Hiko slid across his bandaged leg again.

It was rare moment, seeing the usual scowl plastered on the boy's face fade for more than a split second, and Uno himself smiled wide at the sight of it. He didn't say anything, knowing as soon as he did such a smile would disappear. But it was hope. After all, when Sano was in a good mood, it was almost like they were friends, or they really were. Uno didn't know.

...

If Sano was friends with anyone, it had to be him, right? Uno wondered, chewing on the inside of his lip. He wasn't quite sure, but he wanted to believe that.

Out of all of the boys, Sano was the nearest thing he could consider a real friend. Everyone else was nice to him too, at times, but he realized they secretly looked down at him and his shortcomings like most did. They couldn't really help it, he realized. After all, he was slow and awkward. They saw this and just continued on, with or without him. He didn't really mind it much, most of the time, knowing in a sense that it was honest and true enough, but he still desired and needed a companion to really talk to him, to pay attention, and care.

And though Sano wasn't necessarily the most ideal candidate, he filled the role alright when he felt like it. He was the only one that paid half a mind to him, though he probably thought he was fat and stupid too just like everyone else, but he at least talked to him. He always said goodnight back to him, even though sometimes it was slightly annoyed. And Sano listened when he spoke or asked questions, and always replied, though the remarks and answers were sometimes cynical or sarcastic.

Nonetheless it was more than anyone else offered.

Sano never bothered to dumb down his words either, and didn't really mind explaining what certain long-winded words meant to Uno when he asked. In fact, Sano looked like he enjoyed showing off his intelligence and was all too pleased to do it.

They also talked to each other when everyone else was asleep most nights. Sano didn't like to share, but Uno eventually got the gist of his life. A brother, whose name he never caught, and an older sister, that must've been Miz Mia, followed by another brother, Yoogi or Yamgi or something like that, and then Sano completed his family. When asked if he had other siblings, Sano would look down at the floor, or to the sides, and shake his head.

Repressed as he was, Sano shared how he became a supposed orphan even when his older sister was alive and willing to take care of him. The encounter with the creepy dude outside of the base only made sense then. Ayro sent Sano to an orphanage and paid them to never let him go. From there Sano would quickly tell about how it was horrible place, going into the details of how they hardly cared, fed, or clothed them and made the 'permanents' work on things for the Yevon Army. Sano told him how they hit him with a stick if he didn't sleep, like it was a chilling memory for him, then he'd just trail off and hurriedly skip to his escape to join the army to look for his older brother, only to find out he was dead.

Uno always knew bits were always left out. It didn't take long for him to guess that there might've been another sibling he didn't like talking about, and he guessed it had something to do with his strong connection to his mother, because Sano didn't talk about either one. Uno wasn't that smart, but he wasn't _that _stupid either. He even guessed that there was something that made him whisper real quiet late at night, even when there was no way anyone else could hear them. Sometimes even a creak, or a bathroom door from way down the hall opening and closing, would make Sano clam up for a couple of seconds. Uno guessed it must've been something with the 'stick' and some traumatizing incident related to it.

He never bothered Sano about it, and though he was smart enough to guess rather accurately, Uno let Sano believe he was ignorant and remained a bumbling dim-wit that didn't know anything. Sano was more happy to share his thoughts if he believed Uno didn't really understand most of them.

Uno shrugged behind the bushes _'W__hatever suits Sano' _he thought in conclusion to his mind's wanderings.

Yanking at the prickly weeds again, Uno stopped watching Sano as a dark shadow fell over the other boy's face. If he planned on calling out to him before, then it was out of the question now as Sano slipped naturally into his wretched moods as he glared straight ahead.

* * *

><p>Sano felt an anger, an irrepressible one, and the cat sensed his tension and scurried away, leaving his stiff hand in the air from where he petted the fur. Hoto was by the iron gate, on some sort of smoke break, and though Sano's body craved the infuriating fumes, he dared not go and ask for some like he usually ventured in doing since they started staying at the Moonflow.<p>

_What kind of father let's his son smoke!? _Sano hissed in his head bitterly, his face pinching up and his brows pressing down into his eyes_, It's no surprise to me that the man would be a terrible father, but I didn't want him to be __mine__!_

What could he have expected? What did he think his father was going to be like?

He was obviously not going to be an attentive man as he never visited them while he was growing up. He wasn't going to be a cheerful father-like figure out of the damn blue for him either. So what exactly had he expected?

Sano knew what he wanted at least, though he was still undecided on what he expected. His mind desired a man who would recognize him and announce to him that he was his flesh and blood and to care if he was, at first sight. That's what he wanted. But he also had an image of pride that he wanted, not sure if he wanted his father to be proud of him or to be proud of his father. Sano's mouth twisted sourly. This slight difference was enough to cause a bit of puzzling over the foreign, unsorted, and never easy subject of his feelings.

Hoto smashed the butt into the ground with his heel, twisting his foot to crunch it down into the gravel, and exhaling the long last drag he held in through his mouth in a heaving huff. He turned slowly to make his way lazily up the pathway, his fists in the pockets of his pants. His dark inverted eyes caught Sano's glare, pulling the boy from his mind which was busy mulling over his 'wants' and 'expectations', and a slick smirk ghosted onto the Captain's face.

Sano growled, instantly looking offended, "What are you smiling at?"

"Nothing," Hoto almost looked amused, "But don't you look like the sun's shiny bright rays...as usual."

"Oh, do you expect me to look pleased and happy?" Sano sat up straighter, and stiffly held his head up, "Why shouldn't I be upset?"

Hoto sighed, evidently deciding to lessen up on jokes, "Look kid, it's not really that big of a deal. Never mind me being your father if it bothers you so much. What difference does it make to you if I am your father? Hell, if you don't want me, I'll just be Captain Hoto until the day I die. But if you want a father, a real one, I'm damn well willing to try for you."

"Hmph!" Sano sniffed in and his face heated up. Why did he feel such shame and guilt? After a pause he finally sneered, "Whatever, Old Man."

"There that's something," Hoto leaned down a little bit, an attempt of a smile on his face, "I'll be your old man!"

It was his form of teasing and Sano's face heated up even more at recognizing it, and not appreciating it whatsoever, "Shut up!"

"Well, do you want me or not?" Hoto sighed again, "I don't know how to act otherwise. Your making me nervous kid, with all your glaring. Do you want me to be your father or your instructor? Which one?"

Uno's black eyes peered through the green leaves, watching but not breathing. It was way too late to secretly back away out of earshot. And this was starting to look pretty personal. Uno ducked a bit more under the top line of the bush, hoping he wouldn't get caught eavesdropping again, though he couldn't rip his eyes off of Sano staring wide eyed at his dad, his mouth opened slightly, looking pretty lost for a moment.

Before the moment past. Sano's mouth was a tight line again, refusing to say anything. But slowly, something inside him broke and his bottom eyelids crinkled a bit and his eyebrows bent upwards.

Sano's head rushed with thoughts, not really able to choose the one that suited the situation. A father, instructor, father, instructor. It was his nature now to study the benefits from his choices, but he couldn't see the harm of choosing either one.

It just came down to what he _wanted_. But what he wanted and what he was going to get was separate things and possibly didn't hold the same effects as he predicted them to have.

So, it really boiled down to a judgment of character. Would his father be someone to be proud of? Or be proud of him in return? Sano's eyes tightened, thinking that, more importantly, was he himself someone to become something for Hoto to be proud of?

_Damn uncertainty_.

Sano scowled.

"Well, kid?" Hoto waited, like Uno in the bushes, for him to answer.

Double damn uncertainty.

Sano's well worked hands gripped his upper arms, his sharp elbows leaning against the top of his bent knees. Sano's face twisted before his head fell into his arms.

"Hey kid, my aim wasn't to make you cry." Hoto's eyes widened a bit and he bent his arms in front of him, his fingers slightly curled in alarm. He was talented in many things but human emotion, especially concerning women and children, was never something he could ever hope in his dreams to master. It was just too much of a delicate and confusing art.

Hoto forced himself to relax and chuckle before he rubbed the back of his head, "Guess my aim was off. " Hoto then added a bit cynically to himself, "Good going, Harlan."

After some time of Sano's shoulders shaking the Captain hesitantly leaning forward, a lean and narrow hand falling onto the top of Sano's head, messing up his long undone hair even more. He patted away a bit of stray strands of black hair and then left his hand awkwardly there, "Sano, don't cry. You're getting a little too big for that, as hard as it is to believe."

Sano mumbled incoherently into his arms.

"What was that?" Hoto bent his creaking knees so he was eye level with his boy, his head tilting so his right ear was closer.

"I want a father." Sano said loudly through the muffling of his arms.

Behind the dark greenery of the rose bushes, Uno smiled and lowered his head to look at his bare feet, feeling cool earth beneath his soles. Just like the good old days. He was just a flutter with fuzzy and good feelings.

A rare smile lighted the Captain's face, his eyes shining brightly, hopeful and rebellious against the dismal setting they usually were in, "You sure?"

Uno's smile faded as Sano shook his head negatively into his arms. The Captain's face fell as well.

"You can't be," Sano muttered and looked up, disbelieving breathing out, "You really can't. How could you be?"

"Well," Hoto scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, actually deeply thinking about what Sano asked, "How can I be, huh? Well, that's simple enough, I guess. You see, Kotone and I erm, being in love and all, we just did what married couples do when-"

"Yevon not that!" Sano hissed and grimaced at the thought, "I never going to be in a sane state and listen to that!"

That seemed to sever a line of tension. In any case, Hoto smiled after Sano's outburst.

"I am your father without a doubt," Hoto said gently, and leaned back on his haunches, taking in Sano's every facial feature and how it subtly changed with his swiftly moving mind, "As for how a father is supposed to act...I can't say I have much practice in the matter. It may take me a while, and I'll probably be poor at it to begin with. But, if you have the patience, and don't take trouble in trying to force it, I'm sure it all fall into place."

"I won't force anything," Sano somewhat promised before he lifted a lean hand to wipe under his eyes. An almost warm feeling filled his chest but he slapped a frown on his lips, his voice slurring, "Anyways, what I meant was, out all the people in the vast Spira, why were **you** chosen by Yevon to be my father?"

Hoto tilted his head back and let out a creaky laugh, before relaxing his rigid muscles and looking down at his son, "Well, no one knows for certain who the one that chooses the layout of things really is. And we may never know."

"Isn't it explained by religion?" Sano leaned into his hand as he let his pointy elbow fall into his knee, his chin propped up as he blinked in a bored fashion, "As a matter of fact, by the religion that you serve in the holy army for?"

"Vaguely," Hoto gruffly replied, then shrugged, before gesturing out with a lazy flick of his wrist, "You see Sano, religion is fairly unexplainable. It's just a matter of faith. You can only believe in religion. You can't force it to be true. The only thing that makes it true is the faith and belief of the followers behind it. That's why one religion isn't any more wrong than another."

Sano narrowed his eyes, a smirk dancing on his lips, "Now that sounds like blasphemy."

Hoto smirked back and then bared his teeth a little on one side, "You'll come to find that I'm not a very religious man."

"That's a dangerous thing to say when you are in the ranks of Yevon," Sano stated, his voice chilly for a boy considerably young, "If a monk hears you talking like that-"

"They'd have to punish me for my crimes," Hoto let his shoulders drop, his smirk never fading, "But not before, in their souls, they'd have to acknowledge their own crimes."

Uno perked up without his knowing, rising to his haunches, and his neck craning out from the bushes to hear better. What was that supposed to mean?

Sano took a fairly similar interest, his head jerking up and his eyes widening a bit, as he questioned, "Their own crimes?"

Hoto faced twitched, then waved a disregarding hand with a shake of his head, "Don't worry about it."

Uno lowered his shoulders, slightly disappointed, before he gasped as he felt his heels rock beneath him. _Oh no, oh no, oh no! _He fought for balance, his hands moving out to catch something besides a thorny rose bush, and found nothing. He fell forward, through the bush and thorns, and onto his face in the gravel, right in plain view.

Harlan turned on his heel toward the rustling bushes, disturbed again as a certain chubby boy rushed behind them once more. The moment his eyes set on them, they stopped moving and an unnatural silence rose from behind it.

"Uno," Hoto slowly called out, "Come out and stop hiding."

Sano's face pinched again into an angry expression to show his dislike of being eavesdropped on at a venerable moment again.

Hoto let the corners of his mouth raise as he drawled warningly, "Uno…"

"Uh, yes sir?" Uno's head came out from the bushes, pulling up loose leaves with his ragged hair, and his scratched face was colored deeply with bright shame, "Sorry for listenin' to youse when- I's was just uh…"

"No need to explain," Hoto offered a smile and jerked his head around the house, gesturing. Obediently, and all too glad for the chance, Uno rose and shuffled away as fast as his wide feet could take him.

After Uno's retreat, an almost pleasant silence drifted over the two 'men' remaining. Sano peered ahead of him at his father's legs, chewing on his thoughts, before he said aloud, "Dad?"

"What?"

"Nothing," Sano snorted inwardly and looked up with a rather patronizing smile, "Just wanted to see how such a word that I'm unaccustomed to would taste in my mouth."

"And?" Hoto raised a black eyebrow.

"Didn't seem right at all." He said with a considerably larger smile as he stood to his feet, ready to turn and go back inside.


	10. Inheritance

**By Stormytitan**

* * *

><p>Uno paced the Trenraka residence's porch and bit the end of his thick thumb nail. Pino came by after about fifty paces and watched the nervous nips at his fattest digit for about four more paces before speaking up in her melodic tones-<p>

"What in all of Spira could be troubling you, Uno?"

Her honey sweet voice jerked his head up from where his downcast eyes had dragged it. He stood still, in his hunched pose, his arm bent to bring his thumb jutting from his fist up to his chewing lips, and stared at her like he forgot how to properly respond. To rescue him a little bit, she laughed and tilted her head a little to the left, "Well, you goof?"

"I's uh," He looked down at his bare feet, the mud from the Moonflow marking the bottom of his flat soles, "Well- Do youse think Sano an' I are friends?"

He was still thinking about that. Afternoon had crept up on the Trenraka house, and Uno still didn't have enough guts to seek Sano out and doubly apologize. First for the night before, then for the incident this past morning.

"Hmm," Pino thought deeply before coming up with a soft smile, "I'm sure you'd know if you weren't. That must mean your friends."

Uno spat out the bit of nail that his teeth ripped off, returning to his pacing of the porch. After a while, his bumbling voice wavered uneasily through the air towards her, "But what if he don't want me as a friend?"

Pino lightly chuckled, her brows arching curiously, "Why wouldn't he?"

Uno spun his eyes in his sockets, searching for something to say, "Uhm, like he's mad at me for eavesdropping on him and his dad…er Captain Hoto."

"Well," Pino peered down at her white robe briefly, looking a little embarrassed herself, before she lifted her chin smoothly and said in a dignified voice, "I suppose in that case Sano would have no friends, since we are all equally guilty of that transgression."

She was obviously referring to the night before. Uno shook his head, "No's, like, I's just did it by myself this morning, again. I didn't mean to but, ah- Sano's been giving me glares all day."

It must've had something to do with the fact that Sano had cried a little that morning, and didn't want any of the boys to know. Uno wasn't going to tell a soul, and he wished he had a moment alone with Sano where he could promise him that; with a pinky swear and an x over his heart, that he'd solemnly never tell no one. But, even in groups, Sano was making it hard to so much as look up at him with his deeply grimacing face.

Pino lowered her shoulders, thinking and observing Uno's honestly defeated look. She offered a tiny smile, "Do you want to be friends?"

After some thought, Uno nodded.

"Then go apologize," Pino waved him off, "Go on, and do it now. You'll feel better if nothing else."

"Okay."

* * *

><p>"So why do they call you 'Hoto'?" Sano twisted his nose a sideways, his thin eyes gazing over the heated light of the lowering sun towards his father, "It's a stupid name if you really think about it."<p>

Similar questions had been asked periodically throughout the day, since the Old Man was pretty serious about finally taking up his fatherly duties. Sano, in turn, had a duty himself, being the only kid left for Hoto to finish up raising, to be the guinea pig to his clumsy and awkward parental claims and actions. So, Sano wanted a couple of blanks filled so the already bumpy road of this experiment could run as smoothly as possible. He took advantage of it and asked freely, in front of anyone and no one, to get information out of Hoto.

Hoto shook his head lightly, a dismissive motion, and a slight slant of his mouth showed that a soft smile was settled on his face. This is the way he had answered a few of Sano's inquiries. So far, along with this question, Sano couldn't quite ask Hoto about him and his mother when they were younger and first in love. Though his father didn't seem necessarily put off when asked about them either. Indeed, Hoto just glanced at him, the creases on his face years lighter, less harsh, his eyes twinkling with enjoyment, shook his head a couple of times, then when back to whatever he was doing.

But, apparently that is not how it was going to be this time, with his recently asked question.

As soon as Sano finished up asking about the origins of Hoto's name, Bask piped up with an excited and shrill cry-

"OH~!" Bask's smile cracked his face in half and he clapped his skeletal hands together, all too pleased to share and ready to joyfully answer, "That's because Harlan's old nickname was-Eep!"

_Click_

The now cocked gun inched closer to the end of Bask's pale nose, "Say another word," Hoto growled, "And it will be the end of that face of yours."

"We used to call him 'Hoot' so he switched the last two letters around when he made up his alias," Nanbu leaned casually back into his bent elbows and grinned at Hoto's agitated face, "Aww, Hoot's mad that I told."

"Damn right, I hated that ridiculous nickname," Hoto ignored the snickers and half-hidden chortles from the trainees, including Uno who cautiously approached from the house.

"Then why'd you pick that as your alias?" Sano smiled a bit and lifted his head a little from his shoulders. He enjoyed gathering information, especially on his father now that he had the chance. It had made him feel progressively better as the day drew on, that is, unless Uno showed his bumbling face. Then, he'd remember the morning and feel a prick of annoyance. However, that was forgotten, and he didn't bother making a face at Uno, who was sitting down next to Captain Nanbu to join the unshapely circle of human bodies made in the yard.

"The name just stuck," Nanbu answered Sano with another devilish grin towards a glaring inverted-eyed gunner.

"Why did you call him 'Hoot?'," Jac, finishing up something of a high-pitched giggle, looked at Bask expectantly. Jac never was withheld the answers to his questions.

The Alchemist, now out of the danger of being shot, smiled and patted the top of Jac's orange head, "Because Chicken, he looked an awful lot like an owl with his inverted eyes. Like a barn owl to be exact. So 'Hoot' was in reference to that. Captain Nanbu brought it up first, I believe. When were were all trainees ourselves."

Kodai came down the hill from the house toting a pile of books with him, "I saw Uno's near lateness. Better hurry up in the future, Mydo, or you'll miss part of the lessons."

It was announced sometime around noon that Kodai thought Sano and the rest of them had enough rest and indoor reading. It was time to learn past the petty basics of Black Magic, and nothing was better then to learn by experience. It was apparently also better that it happen at dusk, when the power and calm of the Moonflow was more prominent, making it easier for beginners to focus on the energy of their magic and the elements.

"He made it didn't he? Lay off, Vicorot," Nanbu defended and held out his meaty hand, flicking his fingers commandingly, "What do you got there? I thought we were done with the books!"

A black leather-bound textbook was placed in the Captain's hand. Nanbu lifted it and read the silver lettering on the cover slowly, "Enchantments of Weaponry? Aw, come on-"

"It's a useful skill," Hoto nodded his head, smiling, and looked down at the end of his cigarette as his sulfur match lit it, "I myself use it quite a bit. Have you been helping yourself to my bookshelf, Magician?"

"I believe that was expected." Kodai replied evenly.

"Ha! No enchantments going to help you if you can just beat it down with your good ol' fists," Nanbu grinned, revealing his broad canines brightly in the late light, and lifted his fists up for good show, "Hoto, you know it wouldn't help you any if I went all out on you."

Hoto blinked, his cigarette twitching in his mouth, "Well, we'd never done that and I'd rather not waste my energy proving you wrong."

"That right?" Nanbu confidently leaned forward before bumping Uno in his side, "Well, we'll have to do that one day, won't we?"

Uno rubbed his side with a smile on his face before looking at Sano and Hoto's direction, both mumbling without the other's knowledge, in accidental unison. "Idiot."

"So to begin," Kodai brought all the cadets attention back to him, "First you must-

The attention paid towards this lesson was both intense and fierce as the boys became engrossed to a more precise magic. After patiently waiting, the 'hands on' part of the learning came to them and the teachers handed off their weapons to see how the boys would do.

"Stay to the elemental enchantments, that's closer to your level," Kodai finished before nodding for them to try their hands. In the deep orange light of the afternoon, the boys started to carry out the instructions.

Groto failed to make Nanbu's knife so much as shimmer with any sort of power and he sighed dejectedly before Kodai encouraged him to try again, giving tips on focus. Itgu got agitated and fed up with the complicated words that were difficult to pronounce before he even really began, while Uno slowly fixed his speech impediment to accommodate the words, not even touching Nanbu's shield before he was sure he was saying it right.

With Bask's pistol in his lap, Jac held his pale hands over the metal. A few complex mutterings, seemingly effortless in the eased and calm face of the trainee that spoke them, and the gun glowed before a wavering and silvery haze encircled it. With a pat on Jac's head, Bask noted, "Well done. You chose a water enchantment?"

Jac looked at the gun and smiled proudly, "Yep!"

"Now don't everyone expect to get it on the first try." Kodai tightened his grip on his staff, refusing to hand that over to anyone under any circumstances. With a wave of the staff, and some sort of dispel chant, the glow disappeared from the gun after the end of the twisted circlet of his staff shimmered with a purple light.

Jac handed Bask back his pistol and he holstered it at his hip before sitting down cross-legged between Nanbu and Jac, the Alchemist's supposed favorite student now. Jac had been mumbling less and less about favoritism since this happened. No one complained about the change.

Hoto passed one of his twin revolvers to Sano's hand, and leaning closer, whispered, "Try a poison."

"A poison?" Sano looked down at the gray metal, the gun was surprisingly heavy and his wrist dropped with its weight. He shook his head, "I'd rather not."

During the lesson, Kodai mentioned how certain 'effects' could go awry. Elemental spells were simple, and only consisted of a three or four worded spell instead of twelve to twenty like the curses, petrifaction, and poison spells needed.

"Yes!" Uno pumped his fist beside his round belly after Nanbu's shield was surrounded in heat. He grabbed the shield in his attempt to show everyone how he managed a fire enchantment but his skin hissed against the metal and he yelped, bringing his fingers back to his mouth.

"What a fumbler." Hoto smirked, holding no distaste in his mouth as he commented, before turning to Sano, "The poison spell is easier than it sounds. Try it."

Sano moistened his lips, Hoto's 'owl' eyes on him, before holding his lean hand over the barrel.

He cleared his throat, peered at the page that Hoto had turned to, and began to chant low in his throat. A green glow surrounded his hand instead of the gun and he shook his hand in desperation to make it stop.

"Don't worry," His father assured before he instructed, "Touch the gun now. Keep chanting. There, that's it."

A sickly lukewarm feeling slithered from Sano's arm and down around the cold metal. It felt slimy and Sano tried to stop himself from gagging at the sensation, and obediently kept chanting. The revolver glowed before the hammer and chamber flickered and sucked in all the greenish light into their parts until only the round chamber shone in a bright acid-green.

Sano tried to pull his hand away but Hoto reached out and grabbed his wrist, holding it there. His voice was a steadying power as he said "Not yet." Keeping Sano's reeling head from dragging him to the ground. Trying to help out the effort of staying upright, Sano focused on the gun in his hands, his father's hand off to the side of his vision, and watched as the revolver shimmered in a while light as the last syllables of the poison spell came to an end. The brilliance of that light also dimmed, flickered, and sunk into the very metal of the chamber, its color melting into the gray and disappearing from sight.

Sano's vision wobbled a bit before he focused on keeping the bile from his throat from coming up as he came to the end of dirge-like chant. The gun was still this revolting warm feeling before it slowly returned back to it's sleek and dangerous cool.

"Now that-" Hoto released Sano's wrist and looked at the other boys' faces, watching the spell intently"- Is a poison enchantment."

The boys, excluding Itgu who hadn't managed anything yet and was a little sour for it, applauded with little cheers and compliments. Sano took it all in with a half-glazed look before he swooned, his eyes closing, and in one last second he covered his mouth and turned around. Retching, the revolver fell to the moist grass as he caught himself with his hands and knees.

He coughed at the bitter taste before heaving again. A wave of nausea swept over his head and he tried to keep from dizzily falling forward into his stomach acids splattered on the ground. The cheers died instantly, replaced with speechless silence, until Sano groaned at the pain in his throat.

"Sano, youse okay?" Uno reached out his chubby hand and he scooted closer to touch Sano's back, "Whut's the matter with youse?"

"The poison spell takes some getting used to," Kodai frowned at Hoto's somewhat victorious and proud smirk, "I clearly remember advising against such spells as they were above your level."

Hoto patted the back of Sano's head before picking up his revolver, "Good job."

Sano threw the last of his lunch and choked, coughing again at the horrible feeling in his stomach and head, "Ugh…"

"Poison is a bitch," Hoto nodded, seemingly agreeing, before watching Sano tentatively turn and sit woozily back in his spot, "But don't worry. It'll get better and easier. Soon it'll just feel like you touched something repulsive and nothing more. Nothing you can't learn to adjust too."

"Son of a bitch," Sano wiped his mouth before sharply looking out of the corner of his pointed eyes, "You did it on purpose-"

"You got talent," Hoto ignored him and pushed his revolver back into Sano's hand, "Consider that a reward."

The gun fell to the ground in Sano's weak and confused grip without any resistance. He stared at it, wide-eyed, before looking back up at Hoto to check the meaning. Hoto nodded once, before turning back towards the inside of the circle the boys made during their lesson.

"Why would you do that?" Sano asked, pure disbelief lining his voice.

The other boys turned to look at Hoto while the 'instructors' raised their eyebrows.

"Why not?" Hoto shrugged, "I figure since I'm your father I can do well whatever the Hell pleases me."

Sano lifted the heavy gun and looked at it in his hand, the other matching revolver stayed in Hoto's leather holster. He lowered his hand with caution before looking at the others. He expected Jac to frown, as surely this 'favoritism' that grew beyond easily ignored exceptions, but instead he saw a little smile that disappeared when the orange head looked down and started chanting over Bask's boot knife and sparks and light leapt from the blade.

Sano smiled down at his 'prize', thinking inwardly, _So this is what they call an inheritance?_

* * *

><p>Time passed, many book lessons were handed out, and the waiting of Sano's leg soon ended. It healed nicely after the long patient wait of four months and it too soon became time for them to leave.<p>

Sano waited, as did the rest of them, for Mia to come home from her own lessons. Sano remembered his sister always aspiring to be an actress and apparently she had taken steps to be that now. Though the finishing touches were being added to herself so that her first step into her dream career would be a hopeful and a successful one. Mia came up the gravel walkway and smiled a bit sadly.

"I thought you'd have left by now."

"He was waiting for you," Hoto puffed at the end of his cigarette and didn't blink at Sano throwing himself into his sister's arms. It seemed childish to him, but as he reminded himself, the boy** was **as child.

"Good bye, Sano." Mia rubbed the back of his head, whispering, "Come visit soon, okay?"

His grip tightened around her incredibly thin middle. Somehow he didn't care that all his peers were watching him. Just so long as he didn't cry, which he repressed even the potential of it by smiling into her soft blue shirt and focused on remembering everything about her before he left. Because even if she said, 'visit soon', the promise of it was small if he was to become anything like their father.

"Bye Mia."

Sano slowly let his arms drag away from her before he looked down from her crying face, "Don't cry, Mia."

"Hmph!" She wiped away her tears and lifted up the corner of her mouth, "Who are you to tell me what to do, Little Man?"

Sano chuckled before quickly following after the retreating party, waving behind his back for good measure before he passed the iron gate.

Mia clutched the front of her skirt with her thin fingers, the vague smile of hers lighting a bit more as her brother's face twisted up in anger as their father said something to him. Their words were masked by distance but she could see enough. Harlan's face looked softer, and there was more color in his sallow skin, making the grin with the smoke sticking out from it shine brighter. Sano pursed his lips, rolled his eyes, before smirking against his will as he turned to wave one last time towards her. Mia lifted her hand and waved slowly, tears trickling down her face again.

Despite what she had said to him, he wasn't really a little man anymore.

It was true he had grown considerably, into his body and mind and even resembled a man if it wasn't for his still stunted height, though admittedly tall for his age. He still lacked a few bits of knowledge that would make him a man, and he didn't quite have the maturity to deal with all his problems, but he was definitely not the little boy she remembered in her head.

_So much has happened to him,_ Mia sighed, _He didn't want to tell me but I know…_

Mia allowed herself to relax as the group finally faded from sight.

_He'll be just fine…Dad...you'll take care of him. Won't you?  
><em>

* * *

><p>"Alright Maggots!" Nanbu boomed as he began to pick up the pace, and the trainees hurried to match the heavy and quick beat of his marching feet. Nanbu, quite happily, in fact, overjoyed, announced, "Book worming is over! Once we're back in Bevelle, we're going to kick it up a notch! You're gonna finish up your basic training with the other cadets then graduate under their terms, from there, you'll be put under our charge and continue to be shaped into assassins."<p>

"Oh, how wonderful," Sano grumbled sarcastically, his words going by unnoticed by the shield-toting warrior that continued to march ahead.

"You'll maggots have no free time to yourselves until training is through do you understand? Then you're going to have your own assassin's graduation after all your training with us!" Nanbu beamed as he threw his arms up into the air, before bending them at the elbow and putting them behind his head, "But that's not for several months now."

"Oh," Jac rolled his eyes, "Just great."

"Don't complain," Kodai's robe swept across the dirt of the Moonflow as they got closer to the currently admitting launch pad, "It'll be over before you know it."

Sano caught a flash of something out of the corner of his eye and he smirked, "Something bothering you old man?"

Hoto shook his head, his voice low, "No."

Sano's face fell, not expecting the serious toned answer, "Fine…"

Hoto added a weak sort of smile saying, "Forget it," Before speeding past him and towards the front of the pack with the instructors.

"Huh," Sano sniffed, and slipped into thoughts as he made his way down the dusty path. Itgu watched the revolver sway on clueless Sano's hip and felt a sting of jealousy well up in his chest. Itgu grinned, his hand tightening around the strap of his traveling bag, before he swept in beside the tall boy and drew out the vowels of his words-

"So, Sano?"

Sano slightly flinched, unexpectedly pulled from his thoughts, before he turned his head and sneered at Itgu's suspiciously friendly face, "Yeah, what?"

"Well," Itgu casually hooked his fingers behind his back, knowing what got underneath Sano's skin.

Itgu learned in his orphanage to manipulate others to his liking, it's how he survived, and so far he hadn't met anything that was his 'equal' that he couldn't bend to his will. Though, admittedly, adults were a whole new level. But as far as kids his age, he could make them do anything.

Sano raised a thin brow and waited, before becoming impatient, "What?"

"I was just thinking-" Itgu rubbed his chin, "Remember what happened on the boat?"

"How can you ask that?" Sano leaned forward as they walked, bending his shoulders, and tilted his head with a frown on his lips, "I was recovering from it all this time, if you recall!"

"Yes, Yes, I know," Itgu shrugged, a face of friendship and openness taking up the peachy color that was his expression, "Come on, Sano. I was just thinking-"

"What?" Sano's eyebrow twitched, his mind clearly going over possibilities of what the ever calculating Itgu would want from him again.

Itgu smiled, it was easiest to get the ones that think to much to do what he wanted. All he had to do was keep talking in broken sentences and they filled in the horrible blanks with their imaginations, only leaving a few simple words for him.

"Well," Itgu turned his smiling face, quickly before Sano saw turning it into a frown, and bending his eyes a bit. Convincingly shaking in his arms, he rubbed the imaginary chills, the real ones long since faded from him, "Weren't you scared?"

"Yes," Sano replied without hesitation.

Itgu's frown became genuine, "You didn't look it to me."

"Well," Sano rubbed his forehead, "It was more like a dream to me. I was revolted by the things I saw around me, and I felt fear for sure, but it was detached from me. I could work with it after a while."

"Huh," Itgu leaned forward a bit, "I was dead scared. Bet you think I deserve that."

"No," Sano shook his head, "I didn't."

"Why not?" Itgu looked at the shining revolver and hid his smile, "Why are you being so nice, huh? Usually you're so grumpy."

Sano chewed on his cheek, a heat coming to his face from being called 'grumpy', but it faded as he remembered Itgu trembling on the wet dock, "I don't think anyone deserves that. Terrible things just happen. I, personally, try not to dwell too long on such matters lest I try too dig to deep into myself, erm, it."

Itgu's eyes brightened as it widened with the surprise. Sano seemed different, though he couldn't put an exact word for it. He looked at himself then looked ahead of him at the other boys. Then he realized that, despite them always living together, the subtle changes had been unseen as the time slowly crept upon them.

Groto was taller, no longer his meek size, and his head was nearly matching with Uno's height. Uno, with his personal training he got from Nanbu, was bulkier and he himself was more muscled than he remembered. Sano was still incredibly thin, but his arms were taunt with muscles that laid under the tightly stretched skin of his arms and all their stomachs, minus Uno, had shortened closer to their bodies and became ridged.

Their faces were different too. Itgu stared at the skin that had tightened over Sano's cheek bones making his leaner and longer face more noticeable. Even Uno had a more wider face than the bubbly face he used to have, his big eyes had become smaller, along with everyone else's for that matter, and it sunk into their faces a bit instead of sparkling out like a child's did.

It wouldn't be much longer until they were fourteen, and though they had some considerable growing to do in the years to come, Itgu felt like they had all become one step closer to adult hood without even realizing it.

So engrossed he became in his thoughts, that he lost track of his plot to get Sano to hand over the revolver to him.

* * *

><p>They stopped in their journey at the Mi'ihen Travel Agency to rest before finishing the rest of the trip the following day. Groto calculated the distance in his head, and was none to pleased with his results on how much travel they were going to cram into that short time.<p>

Itgu was still mulling over the thought of their 'growing adulthood' and decided to look at Jac's changes before he went to bed to think some more. Jac was behind him, talking to Bask, and Itgu couldn't find a casual enough way to approach him.

Itgu started to look at him closely, but Jac shot a red-hot glare his way before jumping into his sleeping bag and bundling himself in it as the chilly air of night starting pressing in.

"Grumpy-puss," Itgu frowned and turned to his own sleeping sack to fall into.

It was autumn all over Spira, and soon enough, it would be getting cold. With a groan, the boys knew it would be even colder up north, their destination entirely.

Hoto poked at the fire, having brought wood from the Moonflow for their own use, and stood straight, placing his hands on his lower back and cracking the places in his sore spine to ease the tension that built up.

He certainly wasn't a young man. He was young when Letalis was born, and his eldest son was 19 when he died nearly 6 years ago. Sano, his youngest son, was going to turn fourteen already once winter came. And though he couldn't be considered elderly, far from it, he was still feeling his age in his body. Most likely from the fact that he didn't take much care of himself to begin with and after news of his wife's death, even less than before.

He had lines on his face, under his eyes and beside the corners of his squinted eyes. His mouth was lined on the outside and he could feel his back and knees creaking when he bent. And though he was doing good in hiding it, he was getting a persistent cough that most likely resulted from his constant smoking.

It wouldn't be much of a surprise to him if he died from the end of a cigarette stick, but it would also be no surprise if the end came at the deadly point of a gun muzzle in the enemy's hands. In any case, he was not going to get a rocking chair ending. His was bound to be much more tragic and probably unsettling violent if the nature of his career was to decide his grand finale.

That was why he handed down one of his twin revolvers to his son. He wrote in his will, an ink blotched document in his front uniform pocket, that Sano would receive the second one upon his death. A true inheritance was what the boy at least deserved from his father and Hoto desperately wracked his brain for something to give up, considering he had nothing to give that Sano wasn't already entitled to.

The 'safe house' was always for his family. It was the Trenraka's through and through, and by the way things were going, Mia was going to raise her family in that place. Sano always had a right to that home though as it didn't belong to Mia alone, though Hoto was sure she'd have no objections to his coming home.

As for anything else Hoto could offer him, it was all just petty things. He didn't own much besides his own skin. He had money, plenty of it, but that could be handed about so carelessly and heartlessly it wouldn't show his actually 'parental' charge of Sano at all. Though that was something Hoto would make sure Sano would get when he passed. After all, he had to do something with the decent fortune he had gathered as a Assassin.

Hoto smiled, he hadn't stressed over such affairs in a long while. He set things up after each child was born, adding their names that his wife choose to his will right along side the spidery written _Kotone. _He was more then prepared for that child that was never born and made no mistake in erasing the poor child's existence from his heart, feeling a strangling cringe upon doing so. He was more than ready to add the baby to the documents but luck never allowed it.

And unfortunately, as his two eldest sons died, he had to do the same with them and his beloved wife's name as well, like he had done to the child in his heart. Erased them. Now only Mialyn and Sano remained on the document, entitled to anything and everything that they would've split with their siblings.

He had gotten rid of the home in Bevelle that he had set up for Kotone, knowing all too well his children wouldn't visit him. So that no longer was available to give away though now he wished he had, a want to give it to Sano growing inside him. After all, was the boy expected to live with his sister the rest of his free life?

Hoto also wished a 'free' life for Sano and continued, even then as he looked at the dancing orange flames, to think over the possibilities that laid for Sano ahead. Death was threatening him at so many corners and he wasn't sure he could protect him from them all. The thought that Sano would die scared him, as it would any parent, but Sano's danger was much more real and closer than his son would ever guess.

It was already becoming evident the place that he had allowed his son to put himself in was no proper position at all. Hoto didn't wish any harm on his son, naturally, but harm came whether he wanted it to or not. He had placed Sano under the care of two, not just one, but two trusted and capable comrades to bring him home safely and they ran into, of all things, a Sin Spawn.

Vicorot lost a hand and Sano was lucky to have his foot. That Miss Pino who Nanbu associated himself with was very talented. Sano didn't have any gruesome scars nor did he have any difficulties walking, and Hoto thanked Lady Luck, the only deity he truly believed in, that the boy showed that he was blessed with more luck than he ever had himself.

"Captain Hoto?" Pino herself sat beside him, her white skirts pulled up in her hands. The boys had all fallen asleep earlier, all but two, a thin one and a very fat one, who continued to whisper between their sleeping bags. Pino hushed them kindly, advising against their conversing as it was an earlier up and late to lay down type of day tomorrow.

Eventually, after much waiting on the White Mage's part, the two started to breath evenly and dream.

"Miss Pino," Hoto finally answered as they finally went to sleep. He took no particular notice to the beautiful woman that sat beside him facing the fire. Pino was young and soft, with a beautiful face that made even Vicorot feel a bit of stirring. But Hoto felt nothing, having totally shut off that part of him years before with the death of his only love.

"Uhm," She sought the proper words, polite tones escaping her round lips, "You seem awfully deep in thought, Captain…"

"Gloomy, you mean?" Hoto fixed his face to loosen a bit.

"That's not what I meant!" She blushed, though earlier he had been just that, a dark-faced gargoyle looking over the fire and towards the boys laying in sleeping sacks.

Pino blushed a little harder as she smoothed out her skirt, Hoto chuckling easing her embarrassment only slightly.

After some time, her eyes lifted to look across the stretch of grass past the fire, her crystal blue eyes watching Nanbu move across the field with Bask and Vicorot to catch the breakfast they'd prepare the night before so the boys could eat while on the road. Her eyes were locked on the last spot of the Captain's broad back long after he was out of sight.

Hoto finally took full notice of the girl beside him then and smirked, "Uno isn't going to like that."

"Like what?" She shook her head and forced her gaze towards the other, "Captain, sir?"

"Just calling me Hoto is fine," His eyes crinkled a bit and he let out a raspy chuckle, "I'm talking about the way you're looking at Captain Nanbu."

A blush, much richer a hue than her usual pinkish self-consciousness, crept onto her cheeks, "W-what way do you mean Cap-?!"

"You're a White Mage, aren't you?" Hoto interrupted her with a lifted his brow, and amused tone.

"I am, a retired Yevonite, but I am a White Mage, now and forever," Pino raised her head with a proud air,

"I live as a White Mage should, taking care of those wounded and-"

Hoto interrupted again with a smirk on his lips, "Staying chaste?"

"Ah! You tease too harshly Captain!" Pino rose to her feet and the redness in her face heightened, "Aren't you a man the same age as Captain Nanbu? And you complain about being old, what am I to think of that? I will just naturally think Nanbu is old too. Therefore for me to have feelings, even if I wasn't a White Mage and promised to stay chaste, would be-!"

"Calm down," Hoto's smoky voice hummed and he raised his hands into the air, "I'm merely commenting on what's before my very eyes. Besides," He laughed softly, his voice rough, "What does age matter with love? I'm a bit of a romantic, and though I have no feelings anymore in myself, I find a bit of warmth in seeing it in others."

"I'm a White Mage," Pino said sadly and lowered her defensive shoulders. The pride she had for her job moments before seemingly vanished.

"That you are, and you are young," Hoto nodded his head before lowering his hands slowly, "But don't totally dismiss your feelings only because of some silly rule of a religious party you're not even in the official ranks of anymore. Loosen up."

"No, the White Mages take their vows for life. They are to be pure so the magic-"

"Trust me, nothing will happen to your magic if you were to think some thoughts about Captain Nanbu," Hoto paused and the scarlet flush settled over Pino's entire milky face. Hoto reached into his pocket and brought out his cancer stick that was sure to be his demise if his job would permit. Lighting it up, he puffed and coughed before chuckling in his throat at Pino's flustered face.

"Your magic still worked wonderfully well for Sano," Hoto blew out excessive smoke and he looked up out of the corner of his falcon shaped eye, "And on the trip up to Luca, and all that time at the Moonflow, you kept getting 'rosy-cheeked' when Nanbu would get a little bit close to you. Nothing was affected pertaining to your White Magic, I would bet."

"And who is to say I'm not just being proper? A lady so used to men would seem like-"

"Ms. Pino, why do you continue to argue when you know the truth as well as I?" Hoto tapped the end of his cigarette, "Come on and tell me otherwise if I'm wrong. But as a man once in love I know what it looks like as well as I recognize my own hand. You may not have done anything with the honorable Captain but you damned well thought of it. Not that there is any shame in that, but stop denying that such things exist, even in a young White Mage's mind."

Pino snapped her mouth shut and sat purposefully beside Hoto. The other men had yet to return and were still far from sight, with this, Pino felt a bit of confidence in speaking.

"And to say that I do? Will I be condemned?" Pino lowered her head, "I'm not to feel this way. It is against all that I've learned…"

"Learned where?" Hoto scoffed, "Yevon? They have done nothing for us. Pino? What is so evil about love? It's as pure as any 'white' thing on this planet. But Yevon has gotten it into the White Mage's mind that it's dirty and to feel too much of it yourself is to be unclean. But Pino, I'm telling you it's far from it."

Pino permitted herself a weak smile, "And you are confident in this?"

Hoto nodded, "More over. Love gave me more in a few short moments than Yevon had in a lifetime, still counting on the latter."

Pino sighed lightly, but her chest was still crestfallen, her delicate chin still pressed against her neck, and eyes still downcast.

"Look," Hoto tapped his cigarette again, taking time in choosing his words, "I understand what the Monks were trying to make you into. After all, it wouldn't do at all to have a bunch of whores roaming the temples and putting their hands on wounded vulnerable men. But love, not lust, is two things that shouldn't be chalked together like they do."

Pino's smile grew and she lifted her chin, scanning for the others, "You're are wise, Hoto."

"Old age has its benefits," He joked and puffed on his cigarette more, "What more do I do with it but share my knowledge that I've obtained?"

"Thank you," Pino sweetly whispered as the first three dark shadowed silhouettes came into view. "Thank you so much."

"It is of no sacrifice to me," Hoto waved the gratitude away, "I wasted nothing on the effort as I was just sitting here anyways."

"You should share your knowledge with your son," Pino picked at her nails, "So that he'll know."

"Ah," Hoto nodded, "I'll make sure to do that."

"Eh? Hoto, Pino, What's so interesting to talk about that got you two smiling?" Nanbu made it into the light of the fire and grinned broadly, "Mind telling me?"

"Just a chat," Hoto shrugged.

"Yes," Pino sighed sweetly and stared up at Nanbu, "Just talking to spend the time."


	11. The Test

**By Stormytitan**

**A/N: Not that it matters, but just a little extra tid-bit. The point in this chapter when Sano is 'missing' is explained in an earlier work of mine titled 'Long Hair'. But, it hardly matters. In fact, it doesn't at all.**

* * *

><p>With the winter snow, the boys trained hard, and true to Captain Nanbu's word, they had no time to themselves. They graduated from their normal guardsman training, being all registered bodyguards now, but their training was far from over as they landed under two certain Captains command by 'chance'.<p>

Head Captain Uguro came and congratulated them. The boys were a bit flustered at the honor and said nothing. A good thing too, since it would have been undignified if they had.

The training they endured was only broken up by the errands they had to run. And if they were late, or did not complete the order to the exact specifications, Nanbu, who had become a bit of a sadist, made them run thirty times around the **entire **base upon their late or failed return.

Groto, late, came smiling in with the groceries in his hands.

"Sedevan! You better have a good excuse as to why you're-What's with the goofy grin, huh?" Nanbu put his hand on his hips, before taking his thick fingers and snapping them in front of Groto's face, "Hello!?"

"Oh, sir! The groceries are right here, Sir!" Groto squeaked and stood taller, his gangly arms stretching out in front of him to present the brown bags. Nanbu lifted a brow and waited rather impatiently, his mouth pulled up on one side in a distinct frown. Groto took the hint, and started explaining himself, "I was late because- Sir- there was an old lady with a -uh, er-"

"Save the fake excuses," Nanbu poked him in the chest, hard, before placing his fists on his chiseled hips, his face still glowering impatiently, "What's the real one?"

"T-that was the-" Groto shrunk into his rail-like figure, which was even more so as he had grown over the winter but hadn't quite filled out muscle-wise.

A heavy silence passed between the two before Nanbu hollered over his broad shoulder, "Hey, Trenraka!"

Sano stepped forward from the tables he was wiping at in the mess hall, a task Nanbu had put him to after impudently rolling his eyes and daring to correct the Captain in a slight error of a lecture he was giving at the time. That snide and rude attitude was absent as the teenager loudly yelled, "Yes sir!" like a perfect little soldier. He then saluted properly and stood at attention, awaiting orders and further instruction.

"Oh. Err, no," Nanbu waved his hand through the air and groaned, "Not you, the other one."

"Whatever happened to 'Hoto', Sericles?" Harlan Trenraka himself popped up from below the kitchen window, looking out into the mess hall and at his partner, a cigarette lazily hanging from his lip as usual. He spat out Nanbu's first name with annoyance dripping from his voice, before raising his tone rose a pitch as he added, "In fact, I'd much rather prefer that you address me by 'Hoot' if you continue to insist on-"

Nanbu shrugged off the complaint, interrupting the rest of the moaning with a- "Hoto, can you watch this kid scrub the toilets with is toothbrush since he's not feeling like telling the truth anytime soo-"

"N-no sir! I was uh-!" Groto shook his head before looking down at the floor, "Okay, telling the truth now, I uh, saw a girl and now-uh, well, we're kinda going out…so uhm, well, uh, I try and see her sometimes when-"

Hoto smirked, his cigarette bobbing in his mouth as he raspily laughed, "Good for you!"

"Damnit, no it isn't," Nanbu ran his hand through his long brown strands of pony tailed hair, "Ten laps, Groto. Congrats on getting a girlfriend, lover-boy, but don't expect it to last because I'm going to work you to the bone!"

Groto dropped off the groceries on the table and bolted off to do his laps.

The process repeated again and again, and even when the red head was banned from even running errands, he managed to be late for his lessons and advanced training.

Eventually, even Hoto, who seemed lenient at the beginning, began to tire of it.

"Look, Sedevan," Hoto looked up at him as he entered the room thirty minutes late, "I'm glad you have a girl of your own but make sure your girl isn't taking her time out of my time!"

Groto twisted his mouth to the side, troubled, and nodded, "Yes sir."

Groto didn't miss another lesson but in the days ever after he had troubles with his relationship that was just only beginning to bloom with the girl named 'Yaya.'

After a particular tiring day, and boredom pressing on all the boys heads in the bunk, Itgu decided to ease the monotony with idle conversation. Of course, the only thing worth mentioning was Groto.

"So how'd you hook up with her in the first place?" Itgu yawned and leaned back into his arms, "What did you say to get her to go out with you, Ghost-Boy?"

"She asked why I was wearing a uniform then I told her. I guess she likes the idea of having a solider, or soon-to-be-solider anyways, for a boyfriend." Groto leaned over the edge of the metal bunks, sighing morosely, "Ugh, she won't talk to me now because she's mad."

"Hmph," Sano bent one of his knees and laid his lower leg of the other across it, favoring the 'Spawn' side as he nick-named it in his head, out of habit from the four months of recovering. "Why do you trouble yourself over such a bothersome girl?"

Groto shrugged, "She likes me."

"Whatever." Sano blew at the strands of hair that covered his eye, "Let me know when girls ever make any sense."

Uno looked up through the mattress, Sano's weight pressing down above him, "Yeah…they's are hard to understand…"

Sano laughed, "For you, everything is hard to understand!"

"Hey's!" Uno started before Sano leaned over the edge and offered a raised brow and a curl out of the corner of his usual scowl. Uno adjusted his weight with his lip jutting out, insisting, "I's understand a lot of things! It's just…girls are a lot harder…"

Groto nodded his soft red-head in agreement, "Like another species or something."

Jac rubbed at his short orange spikes of his hair, having cut it again when Itgu made a comment of his hair looking 'girly', and huffed, "Girls aren't that tough to figure out…"

"What do you know about it?" Itgu raised his head from a pillow, "You can't even talk to one!"

"That's besides the point-!" Jac started but was cut off by a sigh.

"Regardless, I'm bored," Sano groaned and rolled onto his stomach to let his head fall over the side, "Uno, how much longer?"

Uno looked at the scratch marks on the metal rung under Sano's mattress above his head. Counting them aloud, he said,"One-two-three-…from twelve…that's uh, nine! Nine days!"

"Nine?" Sano flipped over into the bed, and let his whole weight plop haphazardly back into the creaky bunk. He crossed his arms and moaned, "Nine more to end this horrid wait?"

In twelve days, Head Captain Uguro said three days earlier, the test to fling one boy out was finally going to be scheduled after nearly a year of postponement (the stay in the Moonflow and the busy winter months having been a factor in those arrangements). The boys were nervously counting down, but the wait was becoming an annoyance more than a fear. Most wanted to get it over with already.

"Yep," Uno nodded, and said rather sadly, "Nine days 'til one of us will have to leave. That sucks…why'd they's wait so long anyways?"

Sano shook his head wearily, "I understand what you mean…"

"They've finally got off their lazy behinds to see to us, that's what," Jac spat bitterly before staring blankly ahead, "Nothing you can do about it…Just be patient guys. I'm sure something will work out. Captain Nanbu and Captain Hoto are working on changing it anyway. I mean, since they've done all this work with all of us, it'd be kind of pointless to throw one out after all this time, right?"

"Oh yeah," Uno agreed, remembering and sounding a tad bit happier about it.

"What you guys should worry about-" Jac bobbed his head once, "Is the test that will either make us recorders or assassins. I mean, depending on what you want, you better hope you can be good enough for it."

Sano nodded once, wanting nothing to do with lousy recorders, and Uno settled his mass uneasily into the bed, wanting nothing to do with guns.

* * *

><p>"Where the Hell is Sano?" Hoto paced on the edge of the long shadow of the temple, the backside of the structure rising into the air behind him. He shook his head anxiously and growled deep in his tall and skinny throat, "I told him not be late today if he was ever going to be…."<p>

"And Groto is missing in action too," Hoto commented after a quick glance at the present line of boys before he raked his lean fingers through his greasy slicked-back hair, "Why is it always artillery training that you boys want to miss? Is it so bad?" He asked to no one in particular.

"Not at all, sir," Jac answered anyways and followed the Captain's pacing with his eyes before shifting a subtle gaze to the idly waiting form in the darkest shadow of the temple, "But sir-?"

Hoto looked over his shoulder at the man too, before waving a hand to stop Jac from saying anything more. He shifted his weight again and then muttered, his fingers coming to the stick in his mouth, "Of all days to be late…Whenever that son of mine appears I'll-"

"I see Groto, sir," Jac interrupted his thoughts to point a finger towards the horizon. Sure enough, the pale faced boy came puffing back over the colorful rise of decorative stone.

"Sedevan!" Hoto yelled appropriately, his expression crossed, before he folded his arms over his chest as the boy neared and stopped just in front of him, "Just where the Hell were you? You know you don't have permission to be out, so no excuse you'll give me will be good enough to dismiss you, understand?"

"Sir yes, sir," Groto dejectedly looked down and adjusted his weight on his feet.

Hoto tapped his finger against his loose sleeved arm, looking over the streets and little alleys his eyes could see, before frowning, "By any chance did you see Sano on your 'trip' off the Temple grounds?"

"N-" Groto started but his eyes were wide and he was reeking of a lie. Deciding he couldn't get away with it, he nodded, "Yes sir."

Hoto lifted a brow, his arms still tightly woven over his torso, "And was he heading up here?"

"Uhm, not exactly," Groto rubbed the back of his head and shifted his weight from one side to the other in a nervous fashion, "Well, last I saw him he was talking with a girl…"

"Go Sano!" Itgu smiled but that smile quickly faded when Hoto whirled around with a silencing glare.

Hoto narrowed his eyes more, "Go back and get him, lest he be in any more trouble than he already is with me."

"No need."

The two words were bleakly groaned out. And not soon after that, Sano, the owner of the drawled voice, sighed and slowly strolled up the color speckled path toward them, "I'm here, Captain."

"Late," Hoto hissed and slammed his open palm into the top of his son's head, "What exactly would be your excuse, boy?" He ground his hand into the top of Sano slick head and messed up his combed hair, "Well?"

"I was on an errand for Captain Nanbu, delivering a package to the West district," Sano answered smoothly, despite being bent a little under the weight of the hand, "I just- well, I didn't hurry back necessarily because I was already a tad bit late. I did as I was supposed to, though it could be said I got distracted, sir."

**"Exactly by what?"**

Sano froze as the young powerful and clear voice prickled through his shoulders and skipped down his spine, the effect straightening his back. Head Captain Uguro showed himself from where he was inconspicuously sitting, unnoticed by Sano and Groto until that moment, against the back of the Temple.

"Uhm," Sano's bottom lip got sucked between his teeth and he hurriedly corrected himself, "I was-Sir- I was helping a girl. She was got into a fight and I-"

"You know that's far from a good excuse," Hoto frowned and glared down from over his crossed arms. Despite the choking hold of the glare, Sano was glad of it, having shut him up before he said something idiotic. As the entertaining encounter rather seemed like in that moment.

"Now, now," Uguro smiled, his neck still erect in the proud and formal way he carried himself, "What better excuse then to help a damsel in distress?"

Hoto turned to look at him, before spitting a little between his clenched teeth, "Tch."

The boys realized by now that Hoto didn't like Head Captain Uguro all that much. In fact, he almost liked him as much as Captain Nanbu, who openly criticized him when the Head Captain himself was not present. Though the boys could not see why. It might have been because the man was only twenty two and had a higher rank than the Captains, who were much older. At least, that was the most obvious reason. Then again, Hoto and Nanbu didn't seem to attached to rank, being assassins. They weren't very ambitious and never, in the time with the trainees, tried to get any higher in command.

They boys' were clueless to the reasons, since nothing about the man himself would hint for this big of a dislike. However, the boys followed the Captains' example, and paid respect towards Uguro's rank, even when he made them uneasy.

"Sir?" Sano felt his forehead and the back of his neck sweat a little. Uguro continued to stare at him coolly, a chilling smile on his thin lips.

"You're more than excused," Uguro dipped his head ever so slight before turning and he nodding at the other instructors, who were just rounding the corner to join them. With another confident smirk, he gestured with his wrist to 'carry on' with whatever they were meant to do now that they were all there.

"Well," Nanbu, none to pleased looking, stared at the ground, not really giving his attention to the boys even as he moved right in front of the straight line they had formed. "I'm sure you cadets remember…there is to be test that one of you, and only one, will fail."

The boys' backs all went rigid in unison. The Captains couldn't change it, they had failed, and one of them would fail this test and be separated from the rest forever.

"We're making it simple," Hoto picked up where Nanbu left off, "You five are to run around the Temple, first four back, won't have to worry."

"But the last one back-," Nanbu noticeably growled before staring out of the corner of his eyes at the Head Captain who gladly finished.

"-Will have to be put to an impossibly difficult test," Uguro smiled again, "If the loser fails that as well then he will not become a assassin, despite_ all _of the work he has done. But-"

The Head Captain showed his teeth in a large friendly smile, "-If he wins then I will ignore the old tradition and we'll let you continue along the way."

The boys refrained from cheering but a few let grins slip. The teachers weren't as pleased as them, and a shadow grew on their grins as soon as they had appeared. The Captains and their underlings stubbornly continued to be tense in their shared solemn gloom under Head Captain Uguro's cool and superior attitude.

Bask lifted his twisted arm and coughed into his hand, getting the 'chickens' attentions to him, "Now, cadets, line up with the chalk line I drew. And anything goes, that is, except starting before I say so."

They lined up, ready to go at the seconds notice, when the Head Captain spoke up again, "Oh, and by the way, the incredibly hard test is most likely to kill you. Just thought you needed to know."

Hoto's eyes widened and he shot a glare at the back of Uguro's head. Even Nanbu sneered a bit before looking to the stone again. The boys gulped, and narrowed their eyes at the colored stone the led around the Temple, out of sight, and tensed their muscles in preparation. That was why the Captains and instructors were so uptight. They all uniformly gulped and swallowed, faces twitching as they stared at the road. It was far more costly to lose now.

"Go on," Uguro looked at Bask, who uncharacteristically wasn't smiling once more, "You can go on, now, Bask the Mad Alchemist."

"Yes, sir," Bask turned and lifted his hand in the air, "When my hand goes down, you cadets take off."

The boys crouched and waited for the pale 'flag' to drop.

"Go," Bask's hand fell and their feet pelted the ground as they bolted. Groto was in the lead, while Jac came in close second. Itgu tried to catch up and Sano and Uno were the last as usual.

Nanbu rubbed his face with the flat end of his palm. The last thing he say before the group of boys disappeared was Uno and Sano's bobbing forms. "Damnit." He mumbled, incoherent to the Head Captain but legible enough for the instructors and his fellow Captain to hear.

"He must've done this on purpose," Bask flicked up his glasses and frowned more deeply, following suit in masking his words from the Head Captain, _"What_ did he expect us to feel about these boys when he waits nearly an entire year to decide to take the test? Then he makes the test so simple but with the possibility of death for the loser! No, that's sick. Letting us take the boys on special training courses and everything too- he must've wanted this for some reason."

"No," Hoto slowly breathed out the word, "I think it's something a little bit more than that."

"What do you suspect?" Vicorot looked at him with his golden eyes, "Harlan?"

"There might be higher-ups in this," Hoto growled, "Why else could he get such permission to ignore the guidelines? It's never a good thing when _he_ gets involved. And this has _him _written all over it."

"Why would _he_ be even interested?" Nanbu deliberately crossed his arms with a huff of his husky breath, "What is so important about these boys?"

"Nothing, it must be with us," Hoto shook his head. He wasn't happy at possibly being the cause for any harm toward his son, "These boys had nothing to do with _him._ There was no way _he _even knew who they are except from- Damnit!"

"You suspect Head Captain Uguro told of our original attachment towards them?" Kodai lowered his voice,"More importantly, your's and Nanbu's attachment?"

"_He _always has to get _his_ nose in our business," Nanbu grumbled down into his arms, "And the damn Head Captain is just a loyal lackey to _him_."

"I wouldn't go as far to say that," Bask sniffed, "Though I dislike his type, so ambitious, I don't think Tigernon Uguro is aware of _his _intentions. He never is. That is why a man so young shouldn't hold such power. He's oblivious to the darker objectives within our own ranks. After all-," Bask bitterly laughed, which Uguro ignored as he waited by the finish line, "-What is wrong with Yevon? Nothing of course! There is no horrible deeds in Yevon, oh, nooo." Bask finished by rubbing his twisted arm, "Damn though, why get the chickens mixed up in our affairs? This isn't good at all…"

"I don't like it much either," Kodai sagely nodded, "No, these boys are innocent bystanders in this. _He_ just wants to use them to get under our skin. There must be something we can do then just sit idly by..."

"_He's_ succeeding in getting under my skin," Nanbu sniffed and looked worriedly back at the finish line, "Damnit, Uno never been a good runner."

"Nor has Sano," Hoto shook his head, "Compared to the others in any case. Uguro must've informed _him _of this as well. _He_ is using this to get to us, Nanbu."

Nanbu growled in his throat, "What can we do, Hoot?"

"We'll stay quiet," Hoto put his slender finger to his lips, "Alright? Dangerous talk is going to get us executed and then where will we be when those boys need us?"

"Good point," Kodai lowered his eyelids and pulled his Black Mage robe sleeve more over his missing hand, "It would be a shame if these boys, any of them, were to lose their lives from the game _he _is playing."

"We will wait," Hoto lowered his hand slowly, "And act when we can without endangering the boys."

"Pray that we will not be top late when we decide to act though." Vicorot said and lowered his eyes to the ground.

Blood was their life. It made no difference as to how it came. From the veins of their comrades, the life ending of enemies, or even their own splayed across whatever opposition they faced. Their families, for those that had the privilege, were always lost in the red haze.

Hoto had a big family, at one point, but now it was smaller and indirectly perhaps it was his fault.

Nanbu wanted so many things that he couldn't have, things that Hoto succeeded in getting even for a short amount of time. A son of his own, a wife, a home, a family, but that was not for the assassins. Hoto was proof that it wouldn't work. He couldn't deny that he felt a parental authority over Uno, and un-admittedly he may feel something for Pino, but he never should've made the dangerous mistake of really really allowing himself to have that feeling. It only brought danger to the receiver, not the giver, and feeling of anger at himself boiling under his skin, ready to burst. He wanted to act now, destroy the threat, but he couldn't because if he did, he would die and another threat would rise in it's place. Then Uno and Pino would have no one to help them...

Bask didn't want the boys he took care of for a whole month, the boys that ate with him, learned from him, slept in the same space with him, accepted him, saved his life when comrades perhaps would've left him, and undoubtedly given their trust and loyalty to, to meet a horrible fate at the hands of this dark ploy. He had a particular delicate connection with Jac, knowing that Jac had a difficult time with life in a somewhat similar way that he himself had. Life was not kind to them both, and Yevon no nicer, and they fought for what they wanted but could only have from their sweat and blood. Bask didn't want that one to be harmed any more than Hoto wanted to see Sano, or Nanbu with the Mydo-boy, fall to unjustifiable cruelty. Bask was well aware he was the weakest of the group, when having the test so many years ago he was the very last before they stopped passing trainees into assassination. But the Alchemist wasn't a coward, and whatever needed to be done, he was willing to do it.

Kodai, though less attached admittedly than the rest of them, also resented the idea of the boys getting mixed up in his generation's affairs. He was they type of man who hated seeing wasted blood. It sickened him. His own job as an assassin was never easy, and he never went a day without regretting that he chose such a wretched profession, which he had no choice of ever leaving. He felt a bit of pity for Groto and Itgu, not having the same favoritism showed to them as the other boys did. He had to admit, as a man, he was also losing his edge. Years before he wouldn't of cared, not for Bask when he was hurt, nor for Sano when he was picked up by the Sin Spawn, for Vicorot Kodai the Magician had powerful magic and barriers in his emotions to keep his dark powers in check. But that wall, the delicate wall that he never realized was so weak, was losing it's hold and it may very well have been from the boys' influence. After all, being surrounded by such innocence, free from much blood letting for an entire year, changed a man in a way that made the magician nervous. He resigned himself to an early death in acknowledging the want to protect the boys in the same way he attempted to save Bask's pride, but Vicorot Kodai contented himself gladly with it. A cool glow forming in his mouth and behind his gold eyes from the water in him that elementally expressed his more rarer emotions.

Death was not to come to their cadets, the boys they trained and took care of, and to waste their lives for these boys may be ludicrous, but they were happy to be crazy.

Because for the first time, the assassins desperately didn't want something to die.

* * *

><p>Jac and Groto ran beside each other, dodging the hands of Monks that growled at their indecent running, while Itgu jumped over another monk's arms closing in on their backs ahead.<p>

Uno and Sano puffed beside each other, contemplating whether to pass the other, ability or not.

_He's a friend but-but_ Uno shook his head and fell back a little bit. _Sorry Captain Nanbu._

Whatever horrible test it was, he'd deal with it. He was confident in his strength, he knew Nanbu had trained him well. Whatever fate, whether death was all left for him or the hope to continue with his peers, he'd accept it. And, proudly, he'd know that only he, **Uno Mydo**, was responsible for his outcome. He was sure that he would not lose out in his courage for it. Because it was a lot easier fighting for someone else than for himself alone. If it kept Sano from the horrible test, why not? Even if Sano didn't always think of him as a friend, he was a good friend anyways.

Sano raced ahead, his lungs screaming and his otherwise painless leg started to feel on fire. The line of instructors standing in front of the chalk line had just come into view and he gave his all in trying to get ahead. If he was to be the very last before it was called a 'loser' then he doubted his father would be very proud of that. He felt a strange pang of guilt from running ahead of Uno, leaving his... companion behind to whatever fate was in store for him, but Sano knew he had to get what he could for himself. Uno would be fine, he knew that much, as the boy was always spared from the most horrible of fates because luck was always on his side.

He started to pass Itgu, and Itgu started to have his cruel thinking again.

_Bask lifted his twisted arm and coughed into his hand, getting the 'chickens' attentions to him, "Now, cadets, line up with the chalk line I drew. And anything goes, that is, except starting before I say so."_

"Sorry Sano," Itgu sped a step ahead, "Anything goes!"

"What?" Sano huffed, a raspy breath escaping his lips, "Itgu what the Hell are-?"

Itgu kicked Sano's bad leg and rushed ahead. Sano tumbled to the ground, holding his shin before looking off the ground with gritted teeth.

"You cheating son of bitch!"

Uno frowned, Jac and Groto crossed near at the same second, Jac slightly first though, while Itgu nudged surely closer to the end. What was the point of his sacrifice if Sano couldn't get over line before Itgu like he wanted?

Smiling, determined, Uno used his own way of thinking that showed he wasn't a complete idiot like everyone else fancied to think.

Grabbing the back of Sano's green training shirt, he jerked Sano off the ground as he ran past, before barely stopping to spin around twice, still holding onto Sano.

"Mydo, the Hell-?" Sano felt his body lift of the ground by the back of his collar and before an answer came he was spun around through the air.

"What are friends for, buddy?" Uno let go of his shirt and tossed him forward. Sano flew, like he never expected to be thrown by another human being, and hurtled through the air and towards the hard stone ground by mere inches ahead of Itgu. His flight ended as he hit the ground, a little in front of Itgu, before skidding on his face and the very front of his chest over the white marked line.

Nanbu laughed heartily as Sano came to a final stop, his legs flipping over his head and his back becoming his last resting spot on the his journey over the finish line. His nose was bleeding and scrapes and cuts covered his face and part of his chest, but he was over the line and before Itgu too, the last before lost.

"-the Hell?" Hoto smiled and bent down, the action of what just happened actually filled his aging chest with something that felt like warmth, "Lady Luck, Nanbu…The things you teach that kid is..."

"What else do you think I'd teach a boy built like him?" Nanbu lifted up his shield, which he had been prone to throw in battle, "It is an important skill."

Nanbu flashed a white smile as Uno came last over the end.

"Why'd you do it?" Sano's voice from the ground caught Uno's attention and the bigger of the two boys smiled.

"Cause we're buddies."

Head Captain clapped appropriately and patted the top of Jac's head, "Good job, Rekis, you were first."

"T-thank you, s-sir?" Jac puffed and fought the urge to withdraw from the heated touch, feeling cold anyways by it. Rekis turned his head to look at the sweating faces, "W-who was-?"

Uno waved, knowing the 'first' boy was asking as to who was dead last, and resigned to the possibly deadly fate with a broad grin, "Me!"

"Don't smile about it, idiot!" Jac yelled, despite being in the presence of the Head Captain, "You might-might…"

"I's know's." Uno looked at the Head Captain, "So's whut do I's got to do?"

Sano rose achingly, favoring his 'Spawn' leg again, before watching the flickers of eerie emotion pass through the Head Captain's face.

"In a little bit," Uguro nodded, the shadow of his earlier face masked again by a grin, and waved his hand at Jac, "You come with me and your defeated comrade here. I need you, Rekis, for the test…"

Sano felt uneasy by the smile, remembering Ayro in a weird way from it. It wasn't fake, he really was smiling, but it was not in your best interests.

"Uno wait," Sano reached out and grabbed Uno's shoulder. Without lowering his voice he warned him, "Do not let your guard down with that man."

Nanbu looked at the Head Captain as Uguro tuned slowly, "Why so suspicious Trenraka?"

"I-" Sano stood taller, though his throat felt a lump in it, "I don't want any harm to come to my…my friend."

A sickening image of Edmond came to mind and Sano shook his head to clear it out, "Erm, I don't want to lose anot-erm, **a** friend."

Uno felt warmed by the word, 'friend', for the first time from Sano's mouth, before it was chilled and fell like a stone from him with the smooth voice the of the Head Captain.

"I understand," Uguro put a strong hand on Sano's shoulder, not noticing Hoto stiffen from that action, "Have faith in your friend, Trenraka. If Yevon is with him, he'll be just fine…"

"And if he is not?" Sano bared his teeth, "What will happen then?"

Uguro smiled, "You know well as I what would happen."

* * *

><p><strong>My, My, isn't this suspenseful ;P<strong>


	12. Cero

**By Stormytitan**

**A/N: Uno and Jac are being led somewhere by Captain Uguro...who is it that they'll meet? Mwha ha ha! Try and guess...or just continue reading.**

* * *

><p>"Where are you taking us, sir?" Uno asked hesitantly as he felt Uguro's hands press into his wide back, ushering him through the building at a faster pace than would be deemed normal. It was excited, almost urgent, and put him on edge. Too make matter's worse, Sano's warning bounced around in his skull as the Head Captain continued to be silent. Again, to make sure he was heard, Uno mumbled, "Sir?"<p>

"You'll see in time," Uguro replied testily and bumped Jac in the shoulders when he refused to walk any faster than he was going.

"That doesn't seem fair." Jac growled, "Can't you tell us anything useful?"

Uguro cocked a brow, considering, before his mouth opened in a sudden smirk that could be called sinister. His eyes narrowed with the sharp rising of the edges of his cold lips, and his voice was as slick and frigid as his icy eyes as he mused, "You boys wouldn't happen to know of a man named _Cero_, do you?"

"No," Jac shook his head and Uno nodded in agreement with the other boy.

"That's _surprising_," Uguro remarked, before lowering his voice in distaste, "Or perhaps not, considering who has trained you…"

Jac contracted all his facial features, clearly finding something he didn't like in the man's words, while Uno lifted his mouth into a pursed frown.

Without care to the boys' reactions, the Head Captain continued with a formal, flat-sounding, tone, "Regardless, Cero, as you ought to know, is the leader of the Assassin's Corp, the most efficient assassin, and you could say the Master of the art of murder. He is the one man who helps keep the Assassin's Corp with the rest of the Yevon army, so that the Assassins with so much freedom don't misuse that power." Uguro loosened his grip on their shoulders, "His name is Cero. Just Cero."

"Zero," Uno mumbled before shaking his head when Uguro looked down at him, "No! It waz-uh I remembered something, but it's not the same thing at all!"

"Alright, **Mydo**," Uguro bit the name darkly. He, personally, always had an air of suspicion towards Uno, being the 'son' of Mydo himself, the rebel that had caused so much heartache for the Assassin's Corp in general. The old man hated the Yevon Army for taking his precious son, Fei, away from his grandson and daughter in law. It was safe to say such an act left a bad taste in the old washed-up Crusader's mouth, and before 'Ormi' was even one, he started a rebel group to fight against the Assassins Corp. and Yevon itself. It was well known in the higher ranks all about the Mydo-boy's life. Things that Uguro had come to find the boy must've been ignorant of. For it seemed that they knew more about him than he even did.

Now the thing the boy said, 'Zero', made Uguro twitch. That made the boy appear less dim than he had projected himself to be. Just like his troublesome idiotic father and silent and perceptive mother, who both had a similar habit of doing that.

It may even turn out that the little dim-wit would, or already has, figured out that Zero and Cero were one in the same. Though, however way that Uno could connect the two words were both incomprehensible and irrelevant. Uguro found he was wickedly glad that, even if Mydo knew something, it wouldn't matter soon enough. It was excellent luck that it was _this_ boy who lost and not any other, just as his Master almost mystically prophesied.

Uno chewed on his memories, things he could barely remember and most the time was just a familiarity rising up into his chest, until a single clear-as-day image finally floated into his mind and levitated in his thoughts. A view from his grandfather's strong shoulders from his much, much, younger eyes, and a Bevellian festival stretched endlessly in front of him.

Allowing his feet to be moved for him, his body roughly guided by the insistent hand of Uguro, Uno closed his eyes to see it clearer.

_Lines of stalls, mostly red, but trimmed and adorned with brilliant blues and violets, vivid greens, and magnificently magical gold and silver, were crammed never-ending into the space for the festival. It took up all of the Temple district, most of the Market District, and even the harbor was somewhat affected by the celebrations and its myriad of attractions. _

_His eyes darted from them all as he sat atop his grandfather's shoulders, strolling surely through the noisy crowds in the Market district. Innumerable things were presented for his curious wondering eyes to witness; performances, trinkets, pets for sale, books, knick-knacks, keepsakes, toys, food, sweets, yummy drinks, exotic treats, clothes of new design and even fiend protecting weapons, were being sold and exhibited there._

_Being six, and completely new to this part of the city, he was in silenced open-mouthed awe. _

_He barely notice that his patched clothes of his grandfather and himself greatly differed from the arrogantly colorful silk robes of the locals strutting around him, and wanted to partake in all the appetizing and pricey beverages and snacks, buy a meal-costing toy, and watch the shows that promised the most extravagant tricks for a hefty charge at the curtained entrance._

_His grandfather said 'no' and informed him that his job required him to go soon, reminding Uno that the only reason he was here at all is because his grandfather wanted him to see the festival. With promise of going back through the stalls later that evening, the Mydo duo pushed back through the crowd, the boy still atop his grandfather's massive shoulders, to the cheap inn they had purchased a small room at for a night. And though it was just barely mid-morning, Gramps plopped him on the bed and started to untie his shoes for him._

"_Now," Mydo said firmly as he undid the tightly bound knots stubbornly tied by a certain woman, "Youse stay here for a little bit and when I come back for ya, we'll have some sweety milk downstairs, okay?"_

"_O'skay," Uno licked the gap between his teeth that had formed when he lost his front teeth earlier that year, his feet being yanked free from the shoes his grandmother had forced him into before he took off with his grandfather. "But when's are youse gonna get back?"_

"_Soon. I have to see a friend," Mydo put the shoes on the floor and brought up a sheaf of cheap paper, "Why don't you practice writing and reading?" With the last addition to his words, Mydo handed his son a sizable book, "Language is important after all. Without it, communication wouldn't be possible between person to person. Talking would be indistinguishable from silence."_

"_O'skay," Uno took the book into his chubby hands, not understanding a syllable of whatever his grandfather had just gravely said to him, as usual, "So's that mean's youse'll get back by lunchtime?"_

"_No, I said soon. A lady, the one youse met this morning? will come up and bring youse lunch. I want youse to stay here and don't open the door for anyone except me and that lady, do ya understand?" _

_He nodded, blinking his ever large black eyes, "O'skay."_

"_Cero-Zero, Uno-One, Dos-Two, Tres-Three-" Uno recited aloud into the silence following his grandfather's leave, before he quickly grew tired of it after counting to Cien-One Hundred. With a pursed chubby face, Uno hopped from the bed and wandered around the room, dragging his wide feet against the worn carpet. __He tried to practice his writing but was displeased with the results and abandoned it._

_Smiling, he decided then that he had worked hard enough for the day and it was time to play. _

_His six year old mind formulated a game that he so rightfully called 'volcano', as he traveled over the furniture in the room, pretending the thin maroon carpet over the dark splintery wood boards were boiling hot lava as he jumped without touching it to avoid certain death. After losing, trying to cross the huge gap from a sitting chair to a table, he pretended to burn before he lay in a 'melted' mess on the floor. _

_Uno lost interest in playing dead in a couple of seconds and got up to battle a fiend that was the misshapen chair that had an indention in it's seat from so many people sitting in it. After defeating that threat, he pretended to play circus with the pillows, kicking and trying to juggle them with his legs. Growing bored yet again, he went to the attached bathroom and turned on the bathtub. Filling it to the brim, he threw the cups that the inn provided to drink from into the tub and played battle ship with it. Making a mess on the floor and the front of his shirt that he cleaned up with the single towel in there._

_After all the battleships were placed in the sink, he went back to the main part of the room to blow on the window to make pictures. After a few squiggles, his eyes drifted to the stalls down below. So many colors, all dancing and waving on their respectable banners in the wind, fluttered into his young eyesight. Little Uno felt that it had to be something magic that made it look like that. He absently looked to the side as a rat made a knocking noise in the wall, only to turn back to the window and the sights it could over, before doing a double take quickly, his eyes widening in alarm._

"_GRAMPS LEFT HIS SWORD!"_

_Uno snatched it up, and forgetting how much time had passed since his 'father' left, he rushed out the door to go give it to him. _

_Mydo always went down the main road and towards a pub that he 'worked' at in the back. It was easy to spot, a tall building with purple eaves, green tiles, orange spheres decorating it, and Uno was sure he knew the way from when he had accompanied Grandmuh there to give Mydo his dinner once. _

_With bubbly confidence, he marched barefooted through the bustling crowds as he gripped and half-dragged the heavy broad sword in his hands, singing loudly and obnoxiously to both announce his presence to avoid getting stepped on and unintentionally making way._

"_Cero-Zero, Uno-One~ That's me!" _

_Already accustomed to the clear path ahead of him from kids and adults alike moving aside while plugging their ears and frowning, he was not at all prepared or expecting to have a pair of black-clad legs step suddenly into his way and cause him to bump head-first into them before he could stop himself._

_Rubbing his nose, and slowly looking up, he saw a tall man with his face shadowy from the sun's bright rays behind his head, which was rounded from the shape of a dark cowl._

"_Hello," The voice was medium-toned and smooth as glass. The man looked down at him, blocking his path still, and there was a smile that stood out frighteningly white from his shadowed face under his black hood. _

_Gripping the sword tighter, Uno took a step back away from the man. The man adjusted his head to the side, amused, and Uno could finally see his face clearly from under the black embroidered cover. _

_The man had no shine in his eyes. Instead it was a royal blue that neither glimmered nor had a shadow and it was missing pupils. Just like his own black ones in a way, or his grandmuh's blind one. Violet tendrils of hair snaked into parts of his face and fell like curtains to the sides of his head. His skin was a pearly white, and his mouth was a thin line, with soft edges to the corners. However, his face was stiff, and twitched around his mouth and under his eyes, at least at first, as he stared down at Uno. It was like he was trying really hard not to laugh. _

"_Hiya," Uno stepped to the side, only to be blocked again, "Uhm, I's haveta get's this to my Gramps..."_

_Any resolve he had apparently broke as the man chuckled, high-pitched, and held his stomach and brought a gloved hand to his face. Speaking past it and between hiccups of laughter, he said, _"_I'm sorry Little one, but-" Finally finishing his apparent amusement, the man bent to his knees and put his hands on them, lowering himself to Uno's level. Offering a smile, and gently spoken words, the man promptly said, "I don't mean to frighten you, and you need not be wary of this stranger," He laughed again, lightly this time "But I heard you speak a language that is not well known."_

"_Well," Uno nodded after some time, "My gramps taught me's it. I'm named Uno from that talking."_

_He wasn't quite aware that 'talking' was called 'language' as he never remembered then how his gramps said it back then._

"_Oh yes," The stranger nodded, his smile widening with his eyes, his blue pupils floating in an expanse of white, "What a fine name. But what caught my attention little one, was the fact that you said __**my**__ name. Because you see, my name is __**Cero**__."_

"_Oh," Uno nodded, "That's a uh, uhm…"_

"_Coincidence is the word you want there child," Cero lifted a hand from his bent knee to flick a narrow thinly gloved hand, "So by any chance can you tell me what your grandfather's name is? Are you lost and looking for him?"_

_Uno opened his mouth in a gappy-beam, before clamping his mouth shut with a hasty click of his teeth and a quick gasp. His grandfather's gruff voice floated through his six-year old mind, ramming itself into his thick skull and advising him, at this point reminding him, about talking to strangers. Uno sheepishly looked at the ground, adjusting the sword against his body and found his big toe to be very interesting in the that moment._

"_You are recalling something?" The young smooth voice said questioningly._

_"Uhm, Gramps said I's can't talk to strangers for too long." Uno informed truthfully._

"_Oh, of course, wise advice. Well," Cero stood to full height with a dreary sigh, "You might as well go on along, and don't let me stop you again." _

_With a sweep of his long black cloak, the mysterious man walked past Uno, who opened his mouth to ask something, before the other's voice trailed over his leaving shoulder, "Oh, and One, you shouldn't get in the habit of talking to strangers anyways, as you've done today…No matter what they have in common with you." _

_Uno's eyes stayed glued to the extremely black coat swishing through the vibrant streets until he was swiftly lost in the crowd, though not a soul looked anything like him. Shaking his head, Uno turned, and though he couldn't explain why, ran full speed through the crowds to the pub._

"Zero." Uno shook his head again, the memory somewhat chilling in a way he couldn't quite understand. "Cero, One, Uno, Two, Dos-"

"What the Hell are you doing?" Uguro snapped and when he got a half-comprehensible answer, he bumped Uno hard in the back with the side of his fist and ordered, "Stop that."

"Yes, sir," Uno nodded, rolling his shoulder against the bruise, and continued to walk the way that Uguro told him to go, his eyes clearing from the images of the memory and the taste of sweet milk on his tongue after his grandfather found him and brought him back to the inn.

Through the large building that centered the middle of the Bevellian base, Uno and Jac wove through corridors that made a labyrinthine maze through the stone structure. Eventually, they came to a large blue door, decorated in opals shaped to look like pyre flies, with cold shining black handles protruding from the colorful surface. Knocking, Head Captain Uguro let go of their shoulders to salute.

"Cero sir, I have the new assassin recruits you've requested to see. One the victor and the other the loser."

Uno didn't mind being called a loser but a eerie breath of shivers went through him like a wave, leaving goose-flesh on his skin, as he heard the voice that he had only recently recollected in memory. "Why just stand there, then? Bring Rekis and Mydo in."

Uguro appeared momentarily surprised before grunting and opening the doors wide, stepping aside to emit the two boys into the large room. Jac and Uno moved forward as directed, eyes large, into an observatory-looking room that made their jaws drop in unexpected disbelief .

Gold painted stars glittered on the translucent glass of the ceiling, the sun currently shining down past them creating various pointed-shaped shadows on the wonderful mess of the humongous room. The main force of the atrocious appearance of this apparently important man's office was the dangerously tall, and unstable towers of crumbled papers and books of all sizes that were haphazardly stacked in every angle and shoved toward every wall that didn't have a door; suggested by several decrepit blue-painted planks implying another exit besides the beautifully crafted door they had just passed through.

Adding to it, sad-looking potted plants and flowers of many kinds sat beside weird, alien, and whirring gold and gemmed instruments that cluttered where the books did not occupy, though the plants seemed to almost be as numerous as the various old magazines, articles, disregarded office papers, volumes and tomes that dominated the space.

Some plants had even been placed on top of some lower towers, as if they were tables or shelves which were somewhat present, but so mix-matched in the room and near hidden under all the possessions that it hardly mattered that they were there. The plants had even overgrown their confines and made home between ancient texts as it saw fit, adding a wild splash of green in the most unexpected places to the eye.

Uno, though far from neat, was completely taken aback by the condition of the apparently significant official and not at all what he imagined the person he met so long ago to place himself. He spotted black dirt and water-stains on one magazine that was sitting atop a pile of more leather-bound manuscripts on a velvet couch that was surely meant for receiving guests. Every so often, there was something resembling mold peeking between the makeshift skyscrapers, and hid under the dust covers that uselessly shielded more couches which was littered with more books. Turning his head, Uno saw a skeleton with large vacant eyes and a white smile that wore a pink boa around his neck stylishly and a wide-brimmed blue feathered hat as it sat in the corner.

"Come in," The voice that had spoken through the door coaxed the boys, who turned their eyes finally from the mess to the back of the room and was again shocked to see that the little area was near spotless.

The entire wall was glass, showing off the view of the training grounds two stories below, and the colorful city of Bevelle beyond. A gold-lined and richly red painted desk stretched out in the center, perfectly placed, and was fairly clean, compared to the unsightly state the rest of the room was in, even despite the messy piles of things yet to be 'sorted' through and pushed off to the side of it. A green and gold-gilded table holding a blue and white vase of spiky maroon-colored flowers and a tray of drinks waited beside the office desk. It still left plenty of free space at the sides of the room, which contained nothing but the shiny dark-green marble flooring that was barely visible in the rest of the room save the makeshift hallway created by the books.

The sun shown through windowed-wall, illuminating a tall slender man- young in appearances- with purple hair slipping down into his pearly face and falling to his shoulders against the confines of a bright blue embroidered hood.

Cero pawed at the air to make them journey closer. He offered a similar wide-eyed smile as they complied before narrowing them severely and lifting them to the door, waving a black gloved hand through the air, his voice sharp and echoing in the cavernous room, "You may leave, Uguro."

The Head Captain grunted again before closing the doors with a heavy boom. Uno jolted and turned to see how massive the door really was on the inside.

Jac tentatively inched closer as Cero beckoned further, silently. His arms were seized up by Cero as the violet-haired man brought Jac closer to him quickly, the boy's feet sliding on the slick floor. Cero glared at Uno, and the boy hurriedly shuffled to get closer too, with a nervous gulp in his throat. Jac was released with a slight push back, his feet stepping back beside Uno, uncomfortably loud in the silence of the observatory-like office, and Uno flinched as Cero stood taller and started to circle them.

Cero's footsteps were solid echoing clomps with each painfully slow and deliberate step he took. He placed a finger on Uno's head to keep the boy from swiveling his neck around to watch him revolving around them. His already wide blue eyes were stretched even more open, his smile pulled bigger as well, as he inspected them both. Cero finally made it back in front of them again after slowly orbiting a full turn, and hummed in the back of his throat.

Tapping his chin, Cero smile became slightly smaller and he merely commented, "Alright..."

"Sir?" Jac, always the bold one, cracked in his voice as he held his place in front of the admittedly intimidating person.

"Yes, Rekis?" Cero turned slightly and walked toward the small table beside the desk. By appearance, he was hardly paying attention to Jac anyways, but Jac cleared his throat and started muttering a few stuttered syllables to find his voice.

Uno shifted his weight when the man was not looking and remembered his father's expression when he said he met a man named 'Zero'.

"_You didn't say anything about who me or grandma is did youse?"_

_Gramps tone was low, almost raspy, and he bent his head into an elbow-propped hand and rubbed his forehead uneasily._

"_No youse told me's not too," Uno sipped on his sweet milk, the clamor of the inn not bothering him in the least._

"_But, youse told him your name?" Mydo lifted his hazel eyes and furrowed his thick grey brows, "But…that was all?"_

_Yes, sir," Uno wiped at his milky mustache, "He was a nice person-"_

"_He's dangerous. If ya ever meet him again while we's are here, youse look to the ground and don't say a word to him, understand? For your's sake pretend ya don' see him."_

_A shiver quivered up and down his small spine, and he nodded his consent mindlessly, "Yes, sir."_

_But he hadn't shown up again._

Uno thought of this as he watched Cero pick up a cut-crystal glass and inspect it in the light for cleanliness as Jac finally spoke, "Sir, what am I here for?" The boy swallowed, his red eyes blinking rapidly, "What do I have to do with Mydo?"

"Mydo is the last one through the finish line, correct?" Cero apparently found satisfaction in the glass because he set it down on the table with a loud _clack _and promptly picked up a stone pitcher to tilt and pour a full cup of white liquid into the glass, " I anticipated that happening. Do you want some, Uno? I just had it brought in."

"Uhm," Uno shook his head, his chest fluttering in a tinge of fear born from his grandfather, his once unshakable Gramps, anxiety. He raised his chest and rattled his head so rapidly that his flabby jowls shook, as he yelled louder than he meant to, "Sorry, sir, I don't!"

Jac had given him a red-eyed glare at first, as though he was jealous the head assassin knew him personally, but then expanded them into shock at the nervous and incredibly scared face that Uno held.

Jac's own heart fluttered as he stuttered in another attempt to get the man's attention, "S-sir? I still don't understand what I'm here for…"

Cero frowned and took a sip from the cup, blue eyes dead-cold over the crystal edge and freezing the orange-headed boy in place with his leaden voice, "We'll it isn't for your benefit, I'll tell you that much."

Jac snapped his open mouth shut with a click in his teeth and lowered his once-proudly held head.

"Hard to forget a name from the same language as your own," Cero put the cup down on the table with another loud clack, the sound resonating in the air before disappearing into the loud 'Tic Toc' of the grandfather clock hidden somewhere in the room. It was obvious he was still wanting a conversation with Uno. Something that made both boys quake in nervousness and suspicions.

"Isn't it, Uno Mydo?" Cero frown unfurled into a small smile, his thin lips half concealed behind violet fringe as the man bent his head down, folding his arms, and leaned back into the desk.

"Uhm, I's guess so," Uno shifted again, and attempted to get the same answers that Jac had failed to retrieve earlier. "S-sir why are we here?"

Cero lifted his head a bit so his royal blue eyes met Uno's onyx hues, inhumanly still. He took in a sudden breath, audible in the deadly quiet, and the bottom of his eyes curled upwards as he took in the air. He kicked off the desk, his eyes finally breaking contact as he closed them casually, his long arms uncurling and outstretching to his sides, as he explained with a repressed snort, "You see, Uno. I've been watching you since the day you were shot outside your home that you shared with the first Mydo. In fact, it's safe to say that I've been watching you since the day you were born, but I have to admit I did lose track you for a time after Chrissa died."

"Chrissa?" Uno blinked and a wide smile spread behind the strands of violet that trailed into Cero's face.

Cero quietly muttered through his grin, "She's your dear mother, boy."

Uno whirled his head to the side, meeting Jac's enlarged red eyes with his own, before blinking rapidly and shifting his gaze to the floor. He let out a breath, his face unmoving. _His mother? _

Suddenly, Uno looked up again, his brows lifting, "Youse have been watching me all this time?"

Cero stared at him for some time, stone-faced and with ever-expanded eyes, before tipping his head in a wordless nod.

"But, uh," Uno rolled the words in his mouth, confusion written all over his soft face, "Why?"

The man let out a sigh, drawn out, and weary, "The time has come, Uno, to fill you on a few facts that has been previously, and rather conveniently, withheld."

Jac fidgeted in his place, as Uno stiffened his back, before Cero opened his mouth to say more. However, no sound was uttered before another knock, loud and desperate, came pounding at the ornate doors at the far end of the room. Cero's face instantly screwed up in irritation, before he snapped over the continual beating, "Head Captain, was I not clear when I said you were dismissed!?"

"It's not Uguro!" Nanbu's voice rose through the door, unable to contain his rage, as was evident by the mad trembling of his words, "Where's Uno?! What are you going to do with him?"

Uno opened his mouth but was cut off by a swish of Cero's blue robes, and an low hiss, a command not to be disobeyed, "Don't you dare say a word."

Cero walked calmly to the door, his slender frame weaving in and out between the monstrous towers of books, and opened it gently, only his head peering through the crack in the massive blue doors, "What has you so troubled as to possess you into battering the fine craftsmanship of my door, Captain?

"What are you going to do?" Nanbu started to shake, his fists tight at his sides, "What are you going to do to Uno?"

"Don't you have any faith in the boy?" Cero half lidded his blue eyes, "I was just going to...chat with him for a bit. Before I put him up to the test that I've devised to prove his worth to me and Yevon anyways. I do believe you were made well aware that it's possible he might not return and posed resistance against it, however, that has been dealt with. Is it that you want to bring up the subject again, or is it that you have something else on your mind?"

"Uguro told me that you wanted to have a little chat, "Nanbu ground out between his teeth, using a growling tone that neither Jac nor Uno had ever heard before. It was incredibly angry. "What is going to be discussed?"

"That doesn't seem to be any of your business," Cero blinked, but otherwise remained unfazed to Nanbu's threatening aura. "Is that all, Captain?"

"No, you-" Nanbu looked to the ground, his eyes quaking, before he lifted up his face and snarled, "What is it that you want to talk to Uno for anyways? Why are you so interested?"

"I find it rather interesting that you became attached to this boy, out of all the lives you've ruined, is all."

"Don't you dare blame that on me!" Nanbu roared before he brought his heavy fists to ball into the front of Cero's clothes and easily lifted the assassin into the air, "Look, Cero, I don't do all that nice of things, but don't you dare stand there and look down on me for following orders!"

Cero replied coolly, one brow slanting, "So you hold no guilt for your actions?"

"That's none of your business." Nanbu gave a rough shake in his arm to jostle the assassin before growling, "But I'm warning you, if you tell Uno anything about-"

Cero grinned broadly, the color of his eyes dilating in the wide opening of them, "About what, Captain Nanbu? That _you _were the one that killed his mother? Arranged the unique execution of his childhood village? Refused to tell him about your involvement all these years and deceived him? I'm curious, which fact is it that you didn't want to be known exactly?"

Uno felt his breath rush back down into his throat. _Whut? _It must've been a lie, it had to be…

"I won't deny a thing about it! But, Uno doesn't need to know and _you_ know I only did all that because-!"

Uno's eyes were widened even further and he couldn't help the exclamation from finally tumbling out, "Whut?!"

Nanbu dropped Cero roughly back to his feet, in turn the man bounced into the door to push it back enough for Nanbu to see into the room. Past the dirty mess and toward the bright sunlight streaming in, revealing a wide-eyed Uno. Cero smiled again and brushed off the front of his blue embroidered coat as Uno shook his head at what he heard. Or thought he heard.

He lifted his head again and his mouth opened up in a frown, his eyes scrunching near shut, "Capt'n Nanbu, youse did _whut?_"

"Uno listen to me," Nanbu started, his quivering hand raised up in front of him, "That was before I knew who you were, understand? I wasn't even aware that Mydo was taking care of a boy! And I wouldn't have sent Soki if I knew that. What happened to you was my fault but you have to understand that my intention was not-"

"Liar," Cero hissed, "You knew damn well that Mydo had a child in his care. You were perfectly alright with having him die that day. Just so long as you didn't know him."

Nanbu gritted his teeth and slowly growled between them, "Shut your mouth, Cero."

"For speaking the truth? I think not," Cero lifted himself higher, his smile conveying immense pleasure, "Why shouldn't this boy know? I find it as…injustice-"

"Injustice?! No, I'll tell you what you find it as," Nanbu narrowed his eyes and stepped further into the room, making Cero calmly take a step back, "You find sick entertainment out of this! You have no reason to- Damn you!

I swear your meddling in my personal affairs will stop here, Cero," Nanbu pointed a thick finger at him, "As my superior I'm not entitled to tell you to do anything. But as a man, so help me, I will beat your face in if you so much as try to bother Uno again."

"Oh, how are you going to enforce what you say?" Cero lowered his chin, his vision coming from past his top eyelids, "Hmm, Captain?"

"Why you dirty-!" Nanbu raised up his fist and swung his arm behind his head, ready to attack full force.

"Nanbu, don't!" A greasy voice cut through the air before a thin frame hurled itself through the door and attached itself to the burly arm of it's partner.

To the arrival of the new person, Cero just simply drawled, "Ah~! If it isn't Captain Harlan!"

"Let go of me, Hoot!" Nanbu fought against the arms, easily gaining some leverage as he overpowered Hoto's frailer frame, before another light body threw itself upon his other arm, screaming, "Have you gone mad, Captain?!"

Pino, her light blue eyes widened with shock, held on with all her weak might against the immense pull of his desperate attempt to get at the other assassin that stood calmly by. Hoto doubled his efforts, his feet sliding into the floor as he effectively held the raging man in place.

"Don't try and stop me Pino!" Nanbu roared before glaring daggers back at Cero, "I'll kill you!"

"Is that a fact now?" Cero smirked, his cold eyes opening wider as he waved his hand in a goading manner towards Nanbu, who yanked his arm free of Pino's frantic grasp, and pulled his fist, lunging forward and dragging a failing-to-restrain Hoto.

Kodai and Bask burst into the room next and grabbed his arm together, hurling their weight backwards to keep the man at bay, and shouting their own peaceful interventions

"Don't do it~! You'll be dead before you can even say _vunkeja sa_."

"Are you a fool? This is your life!"

Three curious sets of eyes peeked cautiously into the room around the fully ajar door, one full squinty face pulling into view and witnessing the events with an uncertain and tensed expression.

Cero adjust his gaze to them before lowering his voice to a sinister growl, "It's getting a tad crowded in here…"

Groto gasped and ducked back into the hallway, while Itgu shrunk a bit into his shoulders. Sano, determined to see the strange turn of events for Uno, stood in his place in full view by the door frame. His slanted eyes met Cero's strange blue ones, before he cocked his head to the side. Cero lifted his chin in the air, his face somewhat of a grimace, before another insult thrown from Nanbu's direction redirected his attentions back to the adults.

"Nanbu…" Cero tsk-tsked and wagged his finger in the air as another profanity was hurled at him, "Do you know how much trouble you are in now for just making to attack me? If you were to attempt anymore to make due on your threats-"

"I don't care, you son of a-!" Nanbu pulled on Harlan's side, almost freeing himself once more, and the gunman jumped onto his shoulder to weigh him down, "-If you do anything to Uno now, I'll rip you apart!"

Cero's face finally fell into a un-amused expression as he turned to peer at Uno, who stood straight and still beside his desk with shaking fists and eyes on the floor. "Well, now he knows the general idea. Shall I tell him about he details?"

"Don't you dare-!"

"It's his right to know. He ought to decide." Cero didn't lift his eyes from him, "Boy, do you want to know?"

Uno stood there in his spot looking at the confusing scene in front of him. Pino grasped at Bask's side with all her meager strength and Nanbu struggled against that too, a red anger in his eyes at Cero. Then there was the man named Cero himself, standing cool, sure, and collected. Almost a complete stranger who had answers he was curious to know. Uno looked dismally to the floor.

Had this been what Sano felt when Hoto told him he was his dad? Confused? Like it wasn't really happening?

Uno furrowed his eyebrows. Pino started to let silent tears fall and Nanbu stopped his desperate attempts to beat in Cero's face.

"Uno."

Sano's nasally and slurring voice yanked his head from the floor into the direction of the doorway and remaining apprentices, "What are you just standing there for, you dolt? Tell him no! It's all a bunch of complete crap if you ask me…"

They were friends now, right? Uno let a smile creep on to the edges of his plump lips, "Yeah…"

Cero lifted a brow as Uno raised his voice to be heard, "Whut do youse want me to do, sir?"

"Choose. I can tell you everything about what really happened or-" He lifted his chin in the air, "I don't."

"And what happens to Capt'n Nanbu?"

Cero shrugged lightly, "He's been in trouble for his terrible temper before. However, this time, it seems to warrant a more heavier punishment considering who it is he threatened. Possibly even a death sentence. I am an official of sorts after all…"

Uno puffed out his cheeks, and he lifted his chest as he ignored the face Nanbu gave him, "I's want youse to let him go!"

Cero frowned, his eyelids lowering over his glassy blue eyes, "Why on earth would I do that?"

"If youse do…Capt'n Nanbu will haveta tell's me about whut happened…" Uno lost a bit of his confidence and lowered his shoulders, hoping he was doing the right thing.

Something seemed to work though, as Cero lifted his eyebrows and smiled, "Ah, that would be interesting…I suppose this is a deal you're offering here?"

"Yeah, a deal." Uno mumbled, his eyes focused ahead of him towards the assassin, seeing no one else in the room.

"Here's my counteroffer," Cero's mouth twitched upward, "If you succeed in the test I'm about to put you through, Nanbu will have only a minor punishment, that is, he will have to tell you the truth, agreed to that much?" After Uno nodded, he continued, "If you lose, you'll at worse lose your life. At best, be horrifically injured, perhaps. Still, to make things interesting, the same applies- Nanbu can go free and he'll have to tell you about his involvement in the assassinations."

Uno tilted his head, and the air became heavy as the curious words were said. Like a weight, Cero's voice dropped in the next addition to the terms of their agreement, "However, you will also owe me one favor I can ask from you at anytime if you fail the test…and happen to survive." He added gravely.

"Uno, don't!" Nanbu's warning sliced through the air. Uno flinched before Cero's cool voice drew him back to him.

"Do we have a deal?"

Uno shivered, but nodded his head vigorously. Nanbu going free either way and he was stuck doing a test he was going to do anyways. That didn't sound like too bad. So he consented, "We's got a deal!"

"Alright," Cero spun his wrist through the air, "Captain Nanbu, I'll forgive you for trying to attack me. Uno it's time to see if you'll make a good assassin or not."

"Give me's a sphere recorder," Uno frowned, "And I'll be happy doing that."

"You have to earn the right to be even that," Cero reminded him and motioned for Jac to draw closer again, "Now, I suppose I've wasted enough time. Let's begin, Mydo, Rekis. Captain Nanbu, if you insist on glaring at me like that you can come too. In fact, why don't you all come? You couldn't interfere even if you wanted to."

Cero opened a hidden door in one of his numerous book shelves, this one a little less cluttered and clear of space in front of it, and pushed Uno and Jac in before going in himself. Nanbu followed close behind as the rest filed through the dark shadowy entryway that was revealed. Sano ducked in close to last, his father shuffling behind him, before feeling a sudden sinking feeling in his gut. The stairs connected to the hidden door spiraled down into the earth for an undetermined amount of feet, following the column of dingy stone into the pit of Bevelle. In the center was a horrible vacant space for someone to tumble into. Sano swallowed hard, before pushing himself through and quickened his scuffled-steps.

Every thirty steps, there was a heavy wood door with an iron wrought lock on the right side. The steps were wide enough for three men to walk side by side, but due to the lack of railing, everyone cautiously walked in a single file.

"Uno," Sano bravely pulled close to the open air of the lowering tower, to slip past the line and come into step directly behind him. Cero lifted a brow at him, an unfriendly sneer on his face, before Sano leaned toward Uno's chunky shoulder to rasp directly into his ear for private words, "What in Yevon's holy name is going on?"

"I don't know," Uno gulped, "I'm scared. Ya know…I really don't want to die."

"Good Yevon, what makes you think about that just now, idiot? Shouldn't it have been a more earlier thought?" Sano rolled his eyes, "Look, you do whatever it takes, got it? No sissy 'it's not nice to do that' type of stuff. I have a sick feeling this is going to be far from a 'clean' experience."

"What do youse think they want Jac for?" Uno looked over at the bobbing orange head, who walked first and deeper into the tower that whispered ancient secrets.

"I don't know…" Sano shook his head, "I don't know…"

* * *

><p><em>How far down does this go? <em>Sano thought anxiously as the stairs spiraled down into dark abyss. He nearly crashed into Uno as he stopped, Cero glaring hard at him for his ungraceful display, before impatiently motioning for them all to get on the lower steps from him. It was somehow underground, Sano knew, since the office was on the second floor and they had walked too long for it to be ground level.

Once everyone was out of the way, Cero brought out a set of jangling keys to open the door. The door creaked, no light spilling out, and Cero seized both Uno and Jac up by their arms and tossed them forward. The group slowly made their way in, Nanbu hurrying past even Cero, before Cero picked Uno up from the ground, and non-too-gently brushed him off with irritated swats.

With a quick push, he shoved Uno away from him and folded his arms behind him, his earlier eerie grin returning.

"Tell me boys, do you know of fiends?" Cero leaned closer to Jac and Uno, who stood apart from everyone else in the single light source in the impenetrable dark of the rest of the room. The two boys glanced at each other, sorely missing the sight of their companions and their infallible instructors, before each nodding in their own way a positive answer.

Who hadn't heard of the monsters that terrorized Spira; lost souls of the dead that grew envious of the living, and returned for revenge as mindless beasts?

"And Sin, of course," Cero gave a light nod of his head and caught one shoulder of each boy, leaning in closer. Where was the others? Both boys flinched before Cero cackled in their ears, "And I've heard about that Sin Spawn you encountered on the return trip from Kilika! So, you know all about that…"

"Uh- yeah…" Jac nodded slowly.

"Sure I's do," Uno shrugged, wondering what this had to do with becoming an assassin, and gulping at what he thought it might mean since it was going to be life-threatening. He lowered his head towards his shoulders, "W-whut does that haf' tah do wit-"

A loud, echoing, metallic clang, like a large switch being thrown, interrupted him and before he knew it, Uno was blinded by a bright light that consumed the shadows of the room. "Wha-?! Hey!"

He was spun on his toes, Cero's hand that was gripping his shoulder tightly pinching his skin, before he was promptly thrown off a platform along with a screaming Jac. His eyes adjusted to see a blue film fast approaching them and braced for impact as they broke through it and hit the barred floor hard. Picking himself up from his side, Uno glared up to see the film seal itself back shut and a sudden brightness attack his eyesight again. The dark room was lit completely up now, with blue sparks dancing and leaping over the blue film, illuminating the cage-like structure that held Jac and him captive.

"What the hell is this?!" Jac stood to his feet and circled in his spot, his face lit up as well from the dangerous and pulsating glow of the walls and filmy ceiling. With as gasp, he turned and held out a hand to an inquisitively reaching out Uno and shouted, "Don't! I know what this is!"

"Whut is it?" Uno retracted his hand from where he was about to poke the glowing wall.

"It's a fiend cage!" Jac stood up and shook his head at Uno, "You can't touch the sides! It might electrocute you to death."

"Depends on the voltage," Cero commented casually, while he still stood above on the metal platform they had stood on earlier too, "So, that aside, let me explain both of your missions."

"Missions?" Jac squinted up through the film and saw everyone, including apprentices, being held by their arms by two guardsman each, who had concealed themselves in the dark of the room. More guardsman stood idle around the metal platform that rose around the perimeter of the room, the pit forming the center and holding a fiend cage over a misty floor.

"Let them go!" Uno glowered upward and met Cero's simply pleased face, "Youse are insane!"

"Oh, I'm not arguing with you," Cero shrugged, "But you aren't in a position to yell at me, don't you see? You are in a fiend cage, and with one word I can have these gentleman shoot right into the pit here and you'd be trapped like rats. Or rather, like fish in a barrel as that saying would properly fit this particular situation."

"Uhn," Uno chomped down on his inner cheek and groaned, waiting for what Cero was going to say and do, as the man cleared his throat.

Motioning with a slender hand, Cero had a man whom Uno recognized instantly and with a narrowing of his eyes come closer. Fiery red hair and a pompously superior face, which hinted at what Uno to be knew to be perfectly true, a tendency for cruelty, drew toward the assassin. There was no mistaking that this was the lead solider from when he was eight years old standing above him, approaching Cero as the latter beckoned. Uno ground his teeth, his fingers tightening into creaking fists, as man that went by the name of Soki stepped forward with two rapiers.

Cero took them with a quick dismissive jerk of his head before he held them over the edge and wiggled them in his hands as Soki took a step back, yelling into the pit, "I'm sure you know how to use these?"

Jac put his hands on his hips and growled, "Yeah, what of it?"

"Well," Cero tossed them down and they zapped and sparked in the film for a few seconds before falling into the cage with the metal scabbards smoking in white ghostly tendrils, "I expect you to use them."

Jac and Uno looked up from the rapiers in near horror, "On each other!?"

"I'm sure I told Uguro to inform you that this was a life and death situation," Cero tapped his chin as he observed them from his perch, "Did he not?"

"This is insane!" Uno breathlessly shook his head. He couldn't use a real sharp sword against Jac!

"So you keep saying," Cero motioned for the gunmen to draw closer, Soki pulling his pistol from his belt a tad bit too eagerly for Uno's comfort. Cero smirked as both boys ducked their heads, clearly listening to him as he said, "But as I was saying I could shoot just as quick if you don't. You've little choice."

"You low, dirty-" Nanbu gritted his teeth and stared into the back of the smooth curve of a hooded head.

"Well Jac? Are you going to throw all you worked so hard for away?" Cero seemingly finally acknowledged the boy, and smiled wider as Jac looked down at the rapiers, sadly, which metal was coming to a hissing cool. As if to help with the deciding of the answer, the gunmen around the room trained their guns down into the pit, ready to shoot either one, or both of them.

"Jac…" Uno took a step back as the boy reached down for the two blades.

"I don't want to die Uno," Jac picked them up off the ground and faced the larger boy, "And neither do you."

Jac jerked his arm through the air and let one of the blades fly from his hand toward Uno. He caught it with fumbling hands before Jac drew his rapier with a slow ringing of the blade against the metal scabbard, before holding it out to his side. The boy frowned gloomily, small hand gripping the pommel tightly, and lunged.

"Jac no!" Uno held up the sheathed blade and caught the side of the thin blade attacking him, "Im's not gonna fight youse!"

"But you don't want to die, do you?" Jac pulled back his hand and smashed the blade against Uno's sheath in a explosion of orange and yellow sparks, "Look, I have worked too hard for too long to just get shot in a cage like some kind of animal!"

"So's youse are just goin' to kill me?!" Uno turned his wrist, awkwardly holding the rapier, to catch a third and fourth clash, missing a bit and barely catching them at all to stop them from nicking his face and part of his side, "Jac stop it! Youse don't want's to do this, do ya?"

"Jac!" Bask pulled at the guardsmans' grips, his glasses slipping down his nose and his hair falling into his face, "Jac, stop it! You don't have to kill him!"

"This has gone far enough, Cero!" Nanbu roared before he ripped one hand free and yanked toward the Master-Assassin's back. A hard knock came to his head and he fell the metal flooring with a crash, his eyes closing involuntarily as he dazedly found the floor tilting.

"Shit," Hoto wriggled against the soldiers' holds on him and watched his partner fall into unconsciousness, a guardsman pulling the butt of his rifle off of Nanbu's neck. Snarling, Hoto turned his head to look at the men that kept him in place, "Let me go Mago, Rinshi, this is madness, and you know it!"

The one named Rinshi shrugged and uttered, "Orders are orders."

With each collision of metal-on-metal, Sano winced and tugged on the grasps on his shoulders and upper arms to draw closer to the edge to see. As soon as he had fought every inch to finally see enough, he continued to lean out as far as he could against the captors' holds. There was no way Uno would win, or live, if Jac became serious. And the situation was looking awfully grave.

Sano bit his lip and watched a slice of red blood from Uno's chubby cheek fly through the air and sizzle against the electric sparks of the cage walls. He pulled again, but the soldiers wouldn't allow him any further. Uno hopped to the side, his rapier still sheathed and pulled clumsily to his side, before Jac maneuvered around him and slashed his chest with a long upward tear through his uniform and skin.

"Come on, Uno! Fight back!" Jac cried through gritted teeth and swung downward, Uno catching the blade with the side of the sheath again.

"NO! Youse stop fighting me!"

"Uno, damnit!" Sano yanked at the men's hands before closing his eyes to scream over the static of the electrified barrier, "DRAW YOUR BLADE AND FIGHT BACK OR YOU'RE GOING TO DIE!"

"No!" Uno slipped the sheath against Jac's blade and Jac stepped back as the sheathed blade was swung at him. The dull end thumped into his knee and Jac hissed with hurt, but in the end it was nothing. Unlike Uno, who staggered and brought a hand to his chest that had finally managed to seep enough blood for an ugly blotch to show against his olive-green uniform shirt.

Uno's fingers gripped harder at his chest, a sting ripping through his torso at the burning of his wound. Red started to stain his hand and had already re-colored his white undershirt, and he forced his arm desperately holding the rapier up again as Jac charged.

"Jac!"

**Ker-crash!**

Uno fell back, landing on his rear, his arm still held up over his head as his shoulder shook with the effort to hold back the thin blade from his face. His other hand was holding the pain in his chest, as blood slipped down over his round stomach. A new wound was decorating his head, by his temple, and a fresh trail of blood slid down the edge of his face.

"Uno, you have to fight back." Jac said softly, dismally, before his rapier's point angled and caught the ring of Uno's sheath, the ring that would allow the carrier to tie it to their belt, and with a toss in his arm Jac flung the metal aside. It clattered against the ground and the clean silvery blade was revealed finally.

"FIGHT BACK!" Jac screeched and slammed down on the blade with all his upper body strength. The blades rattled and the blood tinged sword pressed the other lower toward the opposing person.

"J-jac s-stop I-it," Uno's teeth chattered together in his attempt to press back up, but the disadvantage of sitting, and the pain in his chest, made the attempt near futile, "L-let up, Jac."

The blade's edge neared his forehead and Uno felt the sharpness slowly press into it. A line of blood trickled from the skin and Uno lowered his chin to avoid his nose, mouth, and eyes of being cut. It stung and his eyes watered at the pain he resisted to keep his sword arm strong enough and up over his head.

Sano breathed in short bursts, his adrenaline rising, as he looked at his captor's and found their eyes focused on the cage below. His head shook from side to side, looking over the cage, the rapiers, Jac standing over Uno, and the hands holding his shoulder and arm. Sano's eyes widened, his breath leveled, and a shadow of a smirk appeared on his face. The man on the left let his grasp slip from his shoulder so both hands were holding his forearm. Using their distraction of the fight to his advantage, Sano yanked on the right man and turned his head towards the left.

**CHOMP!**

Sano teeth gnashed into the leather hand of the solider holding his arms. As soon as he let go with that one hand, it gave enough slack for Sano to yank out of his grasp and to slide his feet forward to stomp on the right guardsman's foot.

How was he so lucky when getting the dumb ones?

They recovered quickly and reached out for him again but he had already jumped down toward the filmy blue that covered the top of the cage.

He saw the rapiers fight against the film before they fell in. He could tell that it was going to hurt, quite a bit, but if any form of god was on his side then he'd live.

"Sano!" Hoto lunged forward but his guardsman held fast and didn't allow any openings for escape.

Sano's mouth opened to show his teeth as he finally hit the outside of the barrier. Like he thought, it hurt, starting with a sharp pain before a pulse, burning through his face and torso. His fingers tingled but he reached out against it, pressing into the elastic feeling material that separated him from entering. Sano felt it stretch, and it felt like the clear wrap that Mia wrapped leftover food in, and just like it, it stretched to a certain point before ripping. His body tumbled in, landing on his face again for the second time that day, and his skin gave off a smoky vapor like the rapiers had.

"Ugh," He pulled at his ponytail to discover it singed at it's ends but still intact. He was admittedly a bit worried about burning his hair off but was pleased to find that he wasn't bald. He slowly pulled himself up before holding out his hand, "Uno, give me that rapier now."

Jac looked down at him before nodding, holding the tip away from Uno's soft face. Uno threw the blade away from him, all too gladly, and Sano caught the turning handle out of the air before he angled to look at Jac, "Alright, first one to subdue the other wins. Fair enough, Cero?"

Thin slanted eyes glared upwards, finding Cero's curious blue eyes.

"And if you win do happen to win, Trenraka?"

"I would've been last anyways, if it wasn't for Uno's assistance. So, I'll be fighting on Uno's behalf, as the second to last over the finish line. It will be Uno's win should I succeed." Sano explained then smirked, his body tilted to the side and the the sword against his lean hip, " Then, Jac is my partner in assassination, and Uno is our recorder."

Cero let a smile slowly creep outward, "Another deal is being proposed, then, is that it?"

"If that is what you want to call it," Sano lowered his smirk to a sneer.

"You'll owe me a favor for allowing this most unconventional interruption and blatant spitting on the rules." Cero tilted his head to wait for an answer, but since Sano was staring up at the gun points lining the pit, he wasn't really going to say anything else against Cero's demands.

"Sano, don't do it." Hoto silently mouthed to his son but for naught as the boy nodded.

"Yes, fine. So long as you keep to the terms I've set as well."

"So be it." Cero opened his mouth to show a toothy grin and narrowed his eyes at Soki opening his mouth to protest, hissing to silence him, "Don't say anything. This is the most fun I've had in _ages._"

Jac smiled, thankful for a moment, before setting his face seriously and took stance appropriately. Sano impatiently swung forward as Jac moved to block it.

"What are you doing?" Sano whispered when their faces neared, "Jac, aren't you going to let me win?"

"Well, don't make me look bad," Jac spat from the corner of his smirk and threw his weight forward into the other.

Orange sparks flew off of the ends of the blades and Sano started to sweat and huff. Jac laughed a bit and started to swing madly around, clashing closer and closer to Sano's face.

"Jac, watchitwatchitwatchit!"

"Pick up your guard!" Jac instructed as Sano's sword dipped down, and swept upward with a quick step to the side. A thin red mark grazed the side of Sano's upper cheek along with his other scrapes from the 'finishing' touch of the race, his top lip lifting against he sharp kiss of pain. Sano slid away from the other boy before he swung forward, lunged, sidestepped and came forward again as the blades eagerly met.

Jac loosened his grip suddenly, as Sano became his fiercest, and the rapier flew from his hands to clatter against the floor. Sano, huffing heavily, lifted his hand up and poised the blade at the pale neck, "Yield."

"I do." Jac held his hands up before opening his face in a smile. Sano let his hand fall to his side and dropped his own rapier to the floor, as Jac looked up at Cero, "There, now you-!"

_**BANG!**_

"JAC!" Bask voice ripped through the air and pulled at his arms that were still being held back. Jac fell backward onto the floor, a gagging sound escaping from his throat, and his head thumped against the cage's bottom twice before settling turned to the side.

"Uhhnn," Jac's eyebrows furrowed and his mouth opened, allowing a whine to escape. Blood seeped from his side, near his hip, and he sounded as if he was about to cry. Sure enough, tears came and hiccups that made his face twist in pain from the wound in his side spilled from the boy in moans and groans.

Uno and Sano lifted their wide eyes from their comrade on the floor to the platform above, Soki holding a smoking pistol in his hand and a grin. Cero seemed rather pleased himself, his hands folded behind his back and his chin angled to the side to accent his smile.

Sano let out a pulled in breath and growled, "What was that for, Cero? We made a deal!"

"Do you really think that was winning?" Cero scoffed, "Your real enemies aren't going to be so kind to you."

"Son of a bitch!" Uno hollered and slowly stood up on his own thick shaky legs, his fallen gut coming back to him in a rush as Jac coughed, showing he lived. Uno bared his teeth and yelled, "Youse better get us out of here or-!"

"Or what?" Cero stared down at Uno's face, his royal blue eyes meeting with Uno's bleak black eyes.

The staring contest lasted a total of fifteen seconds before Cero redirected his gaze to Jac on the floor, his expression a bit bored.

"Fine," Cero sighed and waved for a guard to pull a switch. Uno realized in that moment that this was just a sick form of entertainment for Cero instead of something serious, and that made him even more angry than if Cero had intended to kill them all along. The man sighed, wearily, before drawling tiredly, "Release them all. They're all free to go for now."

Kodai had barely contained himself, as it could be seen smoking from his ears, and the two guards holding him gladly let go, having had to endure his manipulating shadow wrapping around their ankles since the beginning. They moved together away from the Magician and pulled the switch that Cero ordered to be flipped. The bright film disappeared and the room fell into darkness again before artificial lights from above turned on upon Cero's second wave of requests, much more blinding and white than the lights before.

Covering his eyes, Sano blinked before turning to look down at Jac, whom was being encouraged by Uno to calm down.

Bask jumped down first, pulling out a potion from his pouch. Hoto jumped quickly after him and held up a hand for him to wait, explaining himself as he lowered himself to his creaking knees, "It didn't go through. We're going to have to pull out the slug before we close it up or it will be stuck in there."

"W-wait!" Jac's hands pushed Hoto's fingers that reached out towards him away, "P-please don't touch me!"

"Don't be touchy now, boy. Do you _want _to bleed to death?" Hoto easily got around Jac's persistent guarding hands and grabbed a handful of Jac's training shirt and pulled it open from where the edges folded over the other.

"No! Wait- please!" Jac clutched his white undershirt for dear life, the blood spot clear against the clean material and growing into a dark bloom.

Hoto snarled, annoyed, and pulled up on Jac's shirt, un-tucking the uniform from the pant line, "I'm not going to take off your pants, so stop worrying!"

Jac punched at his hands, knocking them away for a moment, "I can do it myself!"

"No need to be brave Jac," Hoto sighed, his voice a tad bit softer from his usual gruff-voice self, and he grabbed his shirt ends again but was knocked away viciously.

"Let Bask do it!" Jac shook his head, blood dappling his chin as he spoke "W-when we get to the infirmary, I'm fine until-"

Bask touched Hoto's shoulder, his gaze coming from over his glasses shiftily, "I think that it is alright to do as he wants for-"

"Are you crazy? He'd bleed to death before-" Hoto stopped in his removing of Jac's shirt, which was opened up enough now to show a tight white linen, wrap already around Jac's side and torso.

Sano tilted his head, "Jac…" He started slowly, "Have you already been wounded?"

Jac pulled down his shirt and tears started to fall down his long eyelashes, "Please Captain Hoto-"

Itgu, wide eyed and in disbelief, gasped, "Jac's a-"

Groto whispered in his meek voice, "Girl."

* * *

><p><strong>Gaspeth! Did anyone see that coming? I tried a little too hard to hint at it this entire time...ugh, clever literature is hard to accomplish.<strong>


	13. The Truth of Things

**By Stormytitan  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Please!" Jac's voice cracked, struggled against the hand behind her head, holding her collar and roughly dragging her away, "Please, Captain Hoto, don't let Kodai mind-swipe me! I want to be an assassin, I do!"<p>

"You heard me the first day, no girls," Hoto growled.

"Captain Hoto stop!" Sano madly flew up the stairs after them, his arms swinging angrily in his effort to catch up, "Why? Jac has proved to be better than all of us! You can't make hi-m nuh,-Her leave!"

"Harlan, wait!" Bask breathlessly caught up with the gunner, pushing past Sano in the process, and grabbed a firm hold onto his uniformed shoulder, "Please, I beg you, wait!"

Hoto shrugged it off and continued to drag Jac up the dark steps, "Bug off, Bask. This is none of your business."

"Oh?" Bask frowned, his shades slipping down his nose to reveal his intense green stare, as he stopped climbing. "Well, what if I were to say I knew this entire time of Jac's secret, but purposefully neglected to inform anyone?"

The statement was enough to make Hoto finally stop in his tracks. In turn, the Alchemist and Sano both sighed in relief, huffing to reclaim their breath as well. Groto sidled up the stairs, Itgu and Uno not far behind him.

The gunman assassin turned slightly and looked down the steps where Bask stayed rooted to them, "What did you just say, you half-gritty twit?"

"In Kilika, the boys-" Bask looked at Jac and corrected himself, "-The trainees had a little tumble outside my humble little base, you see. Naturally, I immediately set to work to mend them back, but, as I was fixing Jac's ribs, I came upon an interesting discovery!"

"Yeah, must be very i_nteresting_ to find a boy has breasts," Hoto frowned, not amused at the story, "Why didn't you turn her in, you idiot?"

"She is like me, Harlan," Bask coldly answered, contracting his eyelids around the green spiral stare, "Why can't a female become an assassin? Why can't a half Al-Bhed? Is your gender and race so superior to ours, Harlan, that when talent is clearly there it is to be ignored because of ridiculous prejudice? I'm only a damned recorder for Yevon's sake! Even when my abilities can rival that of the other assassins!"

Hoto began slowly and cautiously, feeling the coiled anger in the half-breed, who was obviously feeling touchy, and the reluctance in himself to toy with the spring. Harlan lowered his voice and calmed his tone, "Bask, I didn't say I actually _agree _with these rules, but-"

" 'Orders are always orders', aren't they, Hoto?" Bask pointed a ghost-white finger at his chest, partly in accusation, "Well, damnit, try to change that, Harlan! You make orders now yourself, you know? I'm only saying this because it's a huge mistake if you make this girl leave."

"I tried before, don't you remember? I tried to clear that whole no-women thing and you saw where that went!" Hoto hissed and pushed the hand away from him.

"You didn't have the rank, the _pull, _you have now, Harlan. You have to try again, only not for _her _this time, but for this girl!" Bask's mangled and twisted arm swung back to his side, as his eyes continued to look imploringly at the captain, "I beg you to do this much for me!"

"I-" Hoto choked a bit on his words that he was about to utter as his eyes caught his son's gaze, who was still standing a few steps under them. His voice, which had weakened considerably, instantly hardened along with his soft expression as he asked bitingly, "What?"

"Who made that rule?" Sano narrowed his eyes, undaunted by the stare that usually sent him into a lapse of silence, and crossed his arms in a challenging- dare say daring- manner, "Jac's is just as good, no, **better** than the rest of us. Why does he-er, she have to quit? Who made that stupid rule in the first place?"

"I did," Cero smiled when Sano gasped a little at his cold voice that floated through the air like little shards of ice, "Oh, did I frighten you?"

Sano slowly turned his head, an easily placed scowl on his face. He answered flatly, "No."

"Oh, I'm sure I did," Cero flashed his slightly longer canines through the dim light, looking menacing in the dark, but all too fake in its joy.

"Why did you make that rule?" Sano snarled under his breath, and only in the loneliness of the dark hidden stairway was he able to be heard.

"Oh, why don't you tell him, Harlan?" Cero dimly smiled, a true one this time, but dark and sinister just the same, "Why don't you tell _your precious son_ why, Harlan?"

Bask interrupted with a grunt, "That hardly matters now. Cero, will you or won't you denounce that old stinking tradition?"

Cero twitched his face, tilting it to side suddenly and bit towards the Poison's master, "I don't think I was addressing you, _sandy mutt_."

The Alchemist closed his mouth, though it was clearly wasn't out of respect. His bleached brows was pushed down towards his shaded eyes, and he straightened his long spine to a rigid vertical line.

Hoto sighed raggedly in the pause of silence that followed, "Cero-" He gritted his teeth like it pained him, "-**Sir**, can this girl train with the other boys?"

"How mad would you be if I were to say yes now?" Cero put a hand to his chin, "Hmm, Harlan?"

"What does that matter!?" Bask fought to keep his rare temper in control, "What is the answer?!"

Cero smiled, looking straight into Harlan as he did so, "I say yes. But you all would be wise not to spread the gender of this child to anyone else in the Assassin Corp., agreed? The rule still applies to any other, Trenraka, am I clear?"

Harlan's eyes widened before he squinted them terribly, and released Jac from his grip, "Very well…"

Cero waited, an eyebrow raised.

"-**Sir**," Harlan finished and struggled to keep himself from spitting the word out. And for the first time, Sano realized the tortured face he had when saying it to this particular man. It was more torture to show respect to this man then even to Head Captain Uguro.

Cero tilted his hips to look behind him. Pino led Nanbu with a soft guiding hand and the Captain looked dismally at the floor. Kodai and his usual expressionless face taking up the rear.

"You're all dismissed." Cero waved his hand for them to pass, "I have nothing more for any of you."

Like ghosts they passed the lead assassin, keeping their nasty looks to themselves for the most part, before making their way back into the observatory room and out the heavy magnificent blue doors.

Hoto led the way through the hallways, his back slouched slightly, before the group blinked at the blinding light of outside. Uno wiped his eyes, as if the light knocked him back into reality, before he looked at Nanbu for the first time since he had slipped into his state.

His expressionless face instantly transformed into something sour, new to the open and bubbly face, "Why's didn't youse tell me?"

"How would I-?" Nanbu sounded weak, "I sent Pino after you."

"That didn't fix anything!" Uno whined before stepping forward, "Why's didn't youse tell me about my ma!"

"I assumed you knew," Nanbu looked tiredly down at him and his confused anger, "It was your own mother, after all. How was I to know that you knew less about her than I did? I was really surprised when you seemed to know nothing. It was Mydo's business to tell you, not mine, and as strange as it is that he said nothing to you concerning it, he choose not to do anything about it. It's not my fault."

Uno accepted this with much difficulty, but rose another concern in its place, "Was it really youse that killed my gramps?"

"I-!" Nanbu rose to his full height, his eyes still stuck on the face that glared up at him for the first time ever, and readied himself for every defense he could offer before a softly firm voice stopped them both.

"Enough," Pino then whispered, shaking her head at the both of them in turn, "Not here. You two can discuss this in a more private place."

Uno turned to her with his small eyes narrowed, "Did youse know about this all along too?"

Pino noticeably flinched, "Uno-" She began gently, "You have to understand the whole story before you make judgments."

"So youse did know!" Uno's voice rose to a cracking pitch as he accused her. Nanbu's strong hand landed on Pino's shoulder, holding her in place as it seemed she was going to take a step back, before his authoritative voice cut through the air-

"Uno, stop it! I promise you can hate us all you like, but only after you know the whole thing." He turned his hulking shoulders, taking Pino with him, before he muttered behind him, "Come on, back in the bunks," Nanbu frowned, "I'll tell you everything you need to know or want to ask there."

Uno lowered his head, seemingly calming down and holding that seething anger down in his stomach, before briskly nodding once. Nanbu dragged Pino beside him and started to make his way towards the bunk house, before Uno started to follow a pace behind them.

Sano stood there, watching Uno burst forth in an foreign anger that obviously went beyond poking fun at him or even thoughtlessly calling him a coward occasionally. He lowered his chin, watching them go. It was definitely an encounter he'd inquire about later, if Uno would care to share. Which in most cases was a positive answer.

"Auhm…" A hesitant, surprisingly, and high-pitched voice drew out slowly from his side. Sano turned, brushing the long bangs from his eyes, before holding them aside to see out of the corner of his eye.

Jac shifted in her place, knowing without looking that the boy's eyes were on her. She cleared her throat before trying again, clearly having difficultly getting the words out, "Uhm, oh, ah-"

"Damnit, I'm sorry, Sano!"

"Hmm?" Sano turned his head and his eyes grew. _Sorry?_ He voiced his thoughts, "Whatever the hell for?"

Jac rubbed at her arm as the other boys turned to look at them and drew closer. She met their eyes, before lowering her ruby-eyed hues back to the ground, "I'm sorry guys…"

"Again," Sano near about laughed, an unaccustomed sound in his throat, and fully turned to look at her. "What for?"

In her pause that followed, the other boys stepped beside Sano and took the time to closely study this strange creature that they thought they had known. He was, after all, a girl now making it a she. And though she had hidden it so carefully and admittedly well, there was a few things that she could not change. Things, they found, that they should've took more notice to before.

Her flattened chest was done perfectly to conceal any obvious signs, but she couldn't mask the slender and gentle rise of her neck to her chin, a present Adam's apple on the boys missing on her. Her long eyelashes weren't like Groto's huge child-like eyes, but definitely feminine in the delicate way they were arranged around her crimson hues. Jac's wrists were slim, unlike Sano's which were bony and skinny, and her limbs lacked the manly muscle that all their running and training had developed on the rest of them. Instead, the muscles was sloped easily against her female build.

Not only that, Jac had well-shaped lips, round and a soft pink. Her cheeks were still round also, though she was of thin-frame, and the hard planes that had started developing on everyone else's face was absent. Her voice, which should've been a dead-giveaway from the beginning, was light and had always been pushed off and lightly teased as late development. She didn't like rough-housing beyond sparing, or taking off her clothes, always making sure everything was in pristine place. She hated immaturity like every other girl they had the displeasure of meeting thus far, only recently finding a charm in them. And, though 'he' hated it when it was mentioned, she occasionally screamed very much like a girl.

One's perceptive of another changes greatly when a great secret is learned about that person, particularly if that secret changes who you thought that person was. It was the same with Bask months before. He was a half-breed, a man with a life of difficulties, and so now it was with Jac. A girl and part of the fairer sex, and yet, lived as a boy among them for over a year, and without their knowing. In a way, their deception could be admired, as no one was any the wiser for the longest time about either of their secrets.

The boys studied Jac's features because of what they now knew, and it made the girl shift in her place as it felt like she was being judged. They knew that Jac was not a liar, yet she had fooled them all about her gender, so what about other things? They turned their heads this way and that, before Groto's voice, now awkwardly rough, meekly spoke up, "It's alright, Jac. I forgive you."

She tried hard to smile and produced a small, and to them now, clearly girly grin. Sano felt a tightening in his throat, a heat in his stomach, and a flutter in his chest that he'd learn later to be a serious attraction to the creatures known as females.

Jac squirmed, growing tired of the staring and aware as they were about her gender, "But, you don't want to be friends with me, do you guys?"

"What are you talking about!" It was as if the words snapped Itgu out of his dumbfounded state and he became his same old tactless self. He swooped in and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, taking care in avoiding her chest even though he used to beat upon it mercilessly when Jac was a 'boy', and leaned his face closer to the side of hers. "We're all still buds. We just happen to have a budette now."

"Gee thanks," Jac frowned and like she had always done, pushed Itgu's arms away much to Sano's new satisfaction, "I'm so friggin' glad."

Sano turned his body to see his father shake his head, smile a bit, and turn toward the dorms where the soldiers slept. Sano glanced back at Jac, Itgu, and Groto, who was slowly breaking apart as Bask shooed them all in the direction of the Mess Hall, smiling broadly, before he too dully drifted away, heading towards his workshop. Sano started to follow after the boys (and now one girl) towards the mess hall, but stopped as he peeked over his shoulder at his father achingly making his way towards the dorms. He was still in sight, and not paying attention to the leaving trainees.

Sano slunked after his father with a cat-like grin, and the famous feline killing thing called curiosity clawing his brain. There was something he wanted to find out…

* * *

><p>Uno twisted his mouth, turning it one side to the other, still reluctantly following after. Pino walked slowly with her hands folded against her front, a mute shadow for the silent statue-faced Captain Nanbu. And what a somber statue he made.<p>

Uno eventually caught up with Nanbu's massive strides, trying not to show his puffing when the Captain looked down at him again, his eyes hooded with something like dulled pain.

"What do you want to know?" Nanbu asked before promptly pushing open the metal door that led inside the bunks. As the loud metallic shudder of the door subsided, he added, "Uno?"

"Everythin'," Uno answered and lowered his chin to look up out of his eyes at the taller Captain, who strangely seemed to shrink under the stare. The man looked tired, exhausted even, but the boy knew this wasn't quite it. His adrenaline built up from earlier drained from him, leaving him with only an empty space of dismay at the truth finally coming out.

Which Uno wanted soon. His glare sharpened as he grew agitated. Why couldn't anyone just tell him straight out what happened? Why couldn't people just stop dancing around things, be honest, and get to the point?!

Nanbu, looking at the ground, turned into the bunk house and stepped to the side to let Uno and Pino pass into the building. As soon as they did, Nanbu headed down the line of beds to the very end, where swinging doors by the desk led out to the hallway housing the bathrooms and another office space, the latter of which Nanbu opened and held the door to admit the other two in again.

Once in the proper office, Uno's pout and impatience started to really rage as Nanbu sighed deeply and slowly sank into a couch that was against a wall in there. Pino sat beside him and didn't look in his direction, just kept nervously flitting her eyes toward the crestfallen captain, making Uno even more irritated. Then, suddenly-

"What happened to my ma that was such a big deal anyways!?" Uno barked out, the quiet of the room ripping with his voice. The abruptness of it almost startled himself, and surely gave the two adults a turn, but the impatience, confusion, anger, and basic childish bitterness prickled his skin making it impossible for him to regret raising his voice in demand.

"What's the big deal?" Pino repeated in her sweet voice, her expression still holding a fraction of that startled doe look, "What's the big deal? The big deal is that it was your mother!"

"Well's, yeah, but-" Uno, despite himself to try and stay angry, lowered his voice to a reasonable, almost hesitant, tone. Nonetheless, he lifted his shoulders, put his hands firmly on his hips, and allowed himself to feel as defensive as he liked. His words were still surprisingly severe as he said, "I's want's to know what happened to her that's so's special. How come no one's told me about it already?"

"Do you know what really happened to your father?" Nanbu's rough voice turned both their attentions to him.

Uno shook his head negatively.

"Fei Mydo." Nanbu ran a hand through his long hair, "That was his name. He was a solider in Bevelle, but we never met before- well…It's safe to say we weren't even acquaintances. See, I only heard about him when rumors started circulating through the Assassin's Corp. that the officials wanted him dead."

Uno broke in before Nanbu could go on, "Why would they's want him dead for?"

"He had some…views. And he started poking around."

Of course this answer wasn't going to satisfy him. Uno frowned, his pursed mouth sinking on his face. People tended to do that with him, give him simple answers and not really explain anything, but he was finally tired of it.

"What was Cero gonna tell me?" Uno crossed his arms and sucked in his cheeks, daring the captain to stay silent. A deal was a deal, even though Nanbu had little choice in the matter anyways, and it was time for Uno to learn all he wanted to. He waited less than patiently for Nanbu to sigh and lower his shoulders, defeated.

"He was going to tell you that-" Nanbu took in a raspy breath for a pause, "Well- I'm not sure. But just to get everything out there…"

Uno waited, a bit more patient than before.

"I was the one that killed your grandparents. Well, not personally." The captain raised a bulky hand and shook it in the air, dismissively, "Don't think I'm shifting the blame or anything when I say that. I mean, I've been thinking about this for a _long _time now. I know what I did…and it wasn't my fault. Er, _all_ my fault. I did have a hand in it, I'm not going to lie. But I- well I couldn't do it myself. I was ordered to but I couldn't because when I sort of killed your mother i-in that…no,-" Nanbu interrupted himself and shook his head, seemingly talking to himself now, "I didn't do that, but Cero keeps trying to pin it on me. Look, I didn't mean for her to- ugh, I'm getting ahead of myself."

Nanbu growled in his throat and rubbed his head, "Alright, I'll start at the beginning."

"Youse do that," Uno slowly sank to the floor, and said seriously, "I's wanna know everything."

"As I said earlier, the officials wanted Fei Mydo dead because he had some views."

"So?"

Nanbu lifted his head from his shoulders, his tone dropping to a grave sound, "Different views, contradictory to Yevon's laws but not it's teachings, makes it dangerous as far as the officials saw it. It goes against their binds of control, creates chaos and disorder, and they don't like it one bit. As if that wasn't enough, he was a curious man and didn't know when to mind his own business, sticking his nose in places it didn't belong. The officials started to worry about how much he'd learn, about secrets that should be left alone and all that, but they weren't willing to put a warrant for his death yet."

Uno lifted a brow questioningly.

"Being that he was still a Yevonite, and we never had to kill one of our own before then, they didn't want to make a serious mistake while trying to eradicate a small problem. Still, you could say his cat was killed many times and they couldn't just ignore him. So, they tried to get rid of him discreetly, sending him on dangerous and pointless missions to hopefully never return from, but he always came back anyways, smiling and unaware about the plot against him. That was, until one that left him terribly wounded."

Nanbu let his hand fall from where it flapped in his explanation, smacking into his knee, "And that's where the officials' mistake was."

"Huh?" Uno looked at him with wide, unblinking, eyes.

"In the temple, where he was getting healed, he started to ask questions. He found certain things didn't add up, and started asking _more _questions. The officials got so jumpy about it, when he was apparently getting too close to one of their secrets, that they finally put their fears aside and ordered an assassin to kill him."

Uno lowered his shoulders with the tone of his voice, a harsh sound, "That was youse, wasn't it?"

"No, actually, it wasn't. It was another man. Goes by the name of Rogo, but that's not the point. He never got to killing Fei before Chrissa got him first."

"My ma?"

"-Was a White Mage in the Bevellian Temple," Pino nodded, adding what little she knew so Nanbu could have a break in speaking, which he seemed grateful for. It was a subject he obviously did not like talking about. "I was rather surprised that you didn't know your mother Uno. Even I know her, or uhm, I heard of her and met her once. She was a really good healer, a warm person, and you actually look a lot like her."

Uno put together his face as he remembered seeing it in his reflections. Doubtfully, he turned his head, "Really?"

"Yes." Pino bobbed her head and continued as if she never had to stop, "She was a very dutiful White Mage, however, she swayed against the ways we as White Mages are taught strictly in when she was assigned to see to Fei's healing. She got into big trouble," Pino looked sadly down at her hands in her lap, "You see, White Mages are supposed to be holy. They have to stay chaste."

"What'z that supposed tah mean?" Uno tilted his head. Sano had taught him a lot of big words, none that he could mix naturally into his own speech but he could recognize them, but the short difficult word that Pino finished her sentence in had never come up in conversation.

"Uhm, well-" Pino looked a bit flustered.

Nanbu leaned forward, his expression somewhat uncomfortable and awkward. "Well…Uno…you do know where babies come from, right?"

"Yeah, sure." Uno shrugged lightly, "A girl has a buncha eggs and the guy has sperm right?" Uno blinked, and then matter-of-factly finished, "Groto told me all about it, an' he learned it from lady at a school when he was little an' asked."

Pino held herself back from laughing, her face slightly pink, "Well, that's right, and chaste means that the men and woman that are chaste aren't allowed to share their uhm, eggs and sperm with others."

"Oh! So they's ain't supposed to be having sex." Uno bluntly said and nodded at the clarification.

"Yeah," Nanbu lifted his head, rolling it on his neck a bit and despair involuntary loosened its grip on him as a smile broke through his face. Pino was fiercely blushing, sitting stiffly beside him with her chin down and her hands rigidly settled on her knees, before finally composing herself.

"Well, your mother was a White Mage and they are to always be chaste. They can't even get married," Pino shook her head slowly, the pink hue in her face fading gradually, "Though I'm no longer in service to the direct Yevon ranks I'm still a White Mage and must also follow this rule. But Chrissa deliberately broke this rule, while she was still in the service of Yevon, and amazingly, she didn't care either."

"Oh, Im's gonna guess that was me…" Uno hung his head a little and almost bashfully sent a smile up towards them. Nanbu relaxed his tense shoulders and Pino sent a soft smile back to him.

"It was-" Nanbu scratched the side of his broad neck, his eyes looking down at his scuffed boots, "Chrissa and Fei weren't even married, and that made an even bigger uproar with the clergy for a while than if she just went out and got engaged. Due to the nature of the situation, the officials backed off of Fei for a couple of weeks and in that time Fei and Chrissa managed to get married."

"I don't know who helped them," Pino laughed and the sound rang like a bell in the office, "No monk I know would've married them, but they really were bound, legally and emotionally speaking. I don't think two people ever had been so close from how I hear the older White Mages speak about them."

Nanbu side-glanced at the nice echo of Pino's laughter, before looking back at Uno with a glint in his eyes, "But the officials started to attack Fei again. Fei was a little slow but he finally caught on fast enough what was going on. He visited the officials personally and begged for them to leave his family alone. They promised they would do no harm, but they lied."

"Chrissa got attacked one day, but apparently-" Pino held her sides in her repressed laughter, "While our little Nanbu, in the last bit of his training, was sneaking up on her for his first assassination in an un-crowded corner of the Market District, your mother tossed him headlong into a crate of grapefruit, brushed off her hands, and kept shopping!"

Pino's then broke into a fit of giggles, her shoulders shaking and her hand politely covering her mouth and muffled the pleasant sound.

"Heh," Nanbu looked at her and chuckled, "Little eh?"

Uno giggled, he couldn't really help it, before gasping excitedly, "And then whut?"

"I sat in my room emasculated from being tossed into a crate by a six month along pregnant woman."

"Not you, Cap't. My ma and pa?"

"Oh," Nanbu grinned, big and white, as his eyes still shone dimly, "Well, it was safe to say that your mother didn't like that too much and I guess she made Fei resign so they could move to Luca."

"Luca?" Uno's head angled sideways a bit, "That's not where I's was born."

"Well, they planned on Luca," Nanbu wiped the back of his neck, obviously nearing a part in the story he didn't like, "Well, they waited for a while, about a month and a handful of weeks, for Fei to formally get the orders of his permanent leave. But they never got it because the officials wouldn't let him. They preferred that Fei stayed where they could watch him. Close. But with what happened with Chrissa, Fei didn't want to stay in Bevelle for too long and moved out anyway. Chrissa started to have problems with you, I heard, so they stopped in that little village with your Grandparents, where you were born. Apparently you were a little bit early."

"Oh," Uno lifted his head as he waited for something bad to be said, as the air darkened with the low voice of the Captain.

"He wouldn't stop looking into things he shouldn't though. Don't ask me what he found out, what they tried so desperately to hide, or how he bloody found out about it! But, he uncovered something that was best left alone and that really riled up the officials. Up until that point, he was an annoyance. But then, whatever he found out, was good reason to kill him, and it became urgent that it was to be done quick. It became a top mission for the Assassins Corp. but no one volunteered."

Uno sighed in relief. He already knew whatever happened to Fei didn't end well, because he obviously wasn't here, and most likely it was because of his dangerous curiosity that his grandparents warned him about whenever Uno found himself too nosy. Still though, Uno, like so may others when listening to a tale, forgot preexisting knowledge and hoped for the best for the main characters of the story, "Why not?"

"It was for the whole family, your grandmother, grandfather, your mother, even you, and of course Fei. Hoto didn't want to deal with the family business, it hit a little to close to the heart, and I distinctly remembered a certain crate of grapefruit and was still being mocked by my comrades from that incident. As for the others, it was a high risk mission. Too much problem for a problem we didn't even know much about. Whatever the man Fei did exactly was beyond us because the officials wouldn't release that restricted information. We did pursue your family a couple of times, driving them to the Calm Lands for a while, but we never caught any of the Mydo family."

Nanbu caught his second wind, "Whatever Fei found out about though was big stuff."

"How'd youse know?" Uno felt his chest hurt as his heart thump against the seriousness.

"They wouldn't tell about it to us for one," Nanbu crossed his arms bitterly, frowning over them and obviously still plagued to this day by lack of proper information, "And another thing, even the Maesters got involved, wanting him dead."

Uno leaned back from the fact, "Whoa."

Nanbu let his arms fall and shrugged a bit, his face still showing his displeasure at the small amount of knowledge, "Whoa is right. But Fei wasn't smart enough to catch on that they wanted him dead. He just thought he was in for some imprisonment or a big slap on the hand for not minding his own business. I don't even think that he knew that what he found out was serious. And if he did really know, then he was a fool to die so easily."

Pino gasped, "Nanbu!"

"What? He really was if he knew! I like to think the man was innocently naive but whatever he knew, it was big, so I have my doubts." Nanbu sucked in his rough lower lip and chewed on it over his words, "Especially since he burned his notes before leaving."

"Leaving to where's?" Uno watched Nanbu slowly shift his weight on the beat-up cushions of the sofa.

"Fei was found, his family no where to be seen, in Luca and was dragged back into the ranks by Yevon. Serving out his term seemed to be the only option and Fei accepted that I think, or he accepted his death. Either way, letting him serve out his years, in jail or in service, was not what the officials had in mind. They had him formally executed two days after he got back, claiming that he was a blasphemer and had committed sacrilegious crimes. That's when your grandfather and Chrissa lost it."

Uno lightly sucked in his breath but Nanbu didn't wait as he continued.

"Your grandfather denounced his faith in Yevon and made a rebel group against us right on the spot. He won over support with the story of his son, and I have to admit he did a Hell of a job with it. Got a good amount of people on his side at first."

Nanbu let his head flop down on his neck, boneless, before he rubbed his head wearily, "Man oh man, all that trouble that followed. The officials were fools to kill Fei, because it started a whole load of unnecessary problems that all had to be covered up and eliminated. My whole career was made up of chasing Mydo and his rebels, and their going on's all over Spira. But at the same time, Mydo was a fool in his own right, because he was acting on pure emotion and against a nation's worth of followers."

Nanbu folded his fingers together and lowered his voice, "Chrissa couldn't do much of anything because she had you, and I suppose the lack of nothing for her to do about her husband's death got to her head."

Mydo's old story came back. Uno looked to the carpet floor and mumbled, "Right…"

"You heard about all that didn't you?" Nanbu leaned his elbows on his knees, his hands still knitted together, "I see it on your face. But here's what you and your grandfather don't know-"

Uno lifted his head in anticipation.

"Your mother didn't jump, she was pushed."

A chilling shiver ran up his spine, gripping his chest, his breathing slowed and he managed to ask, "Didja push her yours'self, then?"

"No, but I was there," Nanbu sighed, "Trust me, I don't sleep well when I think about it. She put up quite a fight for you, I want you to know that much. She was leading them away from your grandparents, your home, and she ran and hid along the way well. All the way up Gagazet, until we finally had her in our sights and started to close in. But for some reason she had you in tow. I don't know what she was doing with you, but I'm under the impression she never left you anywhere by yourself the way she clung to you even when we caught up with her."

Uno gulped.

"She screamed and passionately started to attack me when I yanked you away. I thought she was crazy. When I think about it now, she probably wasn't, but she sure seemed so the way she beat me upside my skull back then, screaming bloody murder, and all the things that would happen to me in the afterlife...I dropped you on your head by the way, did you know that? When got a solid hit on my nose I sort of lost a hold of you, and you cracked against the rocks. HARD. It marks you to this day."

Uno looked a little confused.

"I've seen you got a scar behind your ear from where I dropped you. I saw it back when your head was shaved."

Uno instinctively reached behind his earlobe to feel the jagged wide mark that he never gave much thought to before.

"I thought she was going to kill me," Nanbu let out a nervous half-chuckle, "Not even Harlan would touch her when she started screeching at us and clawed at my face. I think she was more than ready to peel my eyes out of my sockets for dropping her child. And you made this awful sound after I dropped you, just kept bawling until your cries became hoarse." Nanbu closed his eyes, "It was a lot of sound around me, what with the storm on top of it all, and I couldn't hit her back. I couldn't react-"

Uno slowly sat back from where he had leaned forward, his heart racing in his rib cage still, "Who pushed my ma?"

"Soki did," Nanbu's voice was bland, his face was contorted as if he tasted something bad, "I don't think about it often and it's been a while, six some years since I thought about it, fourteen since it actually happened. An-and, I don't remember what happened exactly. I see this thing in my head but I'm not sure that's what really happened-"

"Whut?"

"Soki grabbed her elbows from behind, and I stopped feeling pain in my arms so I looked up and was about to thank him when-" He stopped, his voice lowering to a mere mumble, "I heard her scream, and then a sound below the rocks, and I just froze up so I didn't -"

"Nanbu enough!" Pino slapped his shoulder with a loud 'thwack!'. She noticed the sick face that Uno was making, "You're going to make him ill!"

"No's, go'awn, whut happened?" Uno swallowed the feeling down. He was determined not to be ignorant anymore.

"Hoto was telling me to get away from the edge," Nanbu slowly laid his forehead into his palms, "Which is weird, I don't really remember going. Of course, I don't remember Soki moving away from me after pulling her off either. A lot is…missing about that day. I guess I somehow blanked out during most of it or I somehow forgot."

Nanbu sighed, troubled-sounding, "I think I may have reached out to grab her when Soki pushed her over, but I didn't even get close to her if I did. Maybe I did nothing…" Nanbu dragged the last word as if the thought pained him, "It's funny, I had forgotten all about my job to kill her and you. I was shaking mad."

Uno let his head fall to the side as Nanbu unfathomably set his fingers over his eyes, pushing them. His first finger was resting against the side of his nose. His voice was broken-sounding, and coming from low in his throat, "I never really was cut out for assassin's work I guess, not entirely. I could kill anyone before, without a doubt, but_ she_ was only protecting her child and his home…"

"Nanbu you don't have to-" Pino swallowed her suggestion when Nanbu brushed the air and laid his thick hand on her shoulder, keeping it there for comfort.

"I didn't like what I did," Nanbu's voice grew firmer, darkly toned still, but unwavering, "I stood there and watched Soki pick you out of the snow. Blood trickled out of the blanket that you were in, from your head, but you were still bawling so I knew you were alive. I didn't move, I didn't try to stop Soki from walking to the edge and as he held the blanket over. I felt...nothing."

Uno felt the silence that followed press on him from all sides, his throat hurting from what was said thus far.

Nanbu smiled dimly, not at him or himself, but somewhere over a decade before.

"The most interesting thing-" Nanbu's eyes were glazed in memory, and Uno hadn't noticed how long they had already been that way, "- This hulking shadow comes tearing through the snow, out of nowhere, and knocks Soki out cold. We almost thought it was a fiend, but before we could lift up our weapons a bit of the wind died just enough to see the shadow was a person." Another chuckle, "Your grandmother."

Uno couldn't help but lift the corners of his mouth a little. Something didn't quite add up to how he always heard it went, but that was alright. The truth, no matter what, was finally coming out.

Nanbu gave a very light shrug to one of his shoulders, "I guess she followed after Chrissa when she found you two had gone missing. It looked like you were going to fall, but Wayah, she plucked you out of mid-air. Soki didn't move and she kicked him in the gut for good measure. I just was...amazed."

Nanbu's eyes widened and he looked at Uno, finally able to see him past memories, "I don't need to tell you that that's a odd thing to feel, seeing as I just helped in a mother's death, but Wayah purely amazed me. She didn't even shake when she looked over the edge and saw Chrissa down below. She just frowned at us and called us 'bastards' before crunching through the snow while holding your head tightly to stop the bleeding. I was in awe, shock I guess, in any case I didn't move even when she stood right in front of me."

"Whut happened next?" Uno jumped from his rear onto his knees, folding them underneath him to force himself to sit again, "Whut happened, sir?"

"She told me to get out of a pissed woman's way and I stepped to the side, baffled," Nanbu let out a more heartier laugh, almost as his normal self would've done. "Harlan lifted up his hands in surrender when she shot a glare at him, and I think he may have smirked at me. See, at the time he was a higher rank than me and was adding the finishing touches to my assassin's training. Ha, it was my most memorable mission because it was the first time I ever got down and killed someone but, maybe, I might remember it because of your grandmother."

Uno's smile grew a tad larger. He always knew his grandmother was amazing. She was stout and strong in both body and soul, and a sense of pride welled up in him to know that at least someone else remembered her and knew.

Nanbu's voice, and flat tone, wiped the smile from his face and drew his attention again, "Uno…I have to be truthful and say that I never had trouble killing people after that, it didn't change me, but it did make me think about something-"

"Whut?" Uno lifted his head higher, his chin up, as Nanbu looked seriously at him like the first day they met, almost like a testing-question was rising. But, what he heard, Uno didn't really understand.

"-Is the reason I'm doing this good enough?"

"Huh?" Uno tilted his head slightly, "Whaddaya mean?"

"I doubted, every so often from that day, when I killed someone, if killing was right. I did it with Jin and Tinma-" Uno remember that was Ji and Tillie's parents' names, "And I did it with Mydo and Wayah. I didn't want to kill Wayah and Mydo, well, maybe Mydo since some bad blood had developed between us, but I didn't want to kill Wayah, you know?"

Uno dumbly waited, without knowing anything else to do, before his stomach dropped with Nanbu's next resentfully grumbled words.

"-but orders being orders, I sent Soki to do what I couldn't bring myself too, because it had to be done one way or another… I knew I just- couldn't- He did kill them both and chased you kids until- well, I can only tell you what I read in a report but I'm sure you know all too well what happened afterwards."

Uno nodded gravely.

"I didn't get a look at you, I didn't want to." Nanbu blinked slowly, "With my work done, the rebel group crushed and its leaders dead, I went on back to Bevelle to visit Vimo. See, he always somehow managed to cheer me up. That old man knew what just to say to get me to forget about...everything. But, before I really forgot about it, I sent Pino back to check on you after I read Soki's forwarded report. I figured you'd be scared and a nice face would cheer you up before you'd be put in questioning by the Yevon officials. But really, I avoided thinking about it."

Uno frowned, finding something he didn't like in what the Captain had said.

Nanbu noticed, "Well, I wasn't concerned with you then. I'm not going to lie. I didn't care about Mydo's boy, why would I back then? But Pino didn't let Soki have you, she fell in love with your blubbering little face and took you to the temple to rest."

Pino smiled at Uno's expression before turning slowly to Nanbu and smiling at him. His hardened face melted a bit and he laughed, "Yeah, Pino didn't turn you in and brought your behind to the orphanage instead. Soki raised a stink about it later but I shut him up and let you live where you were. I never expected you to join the ranks, or get so attached to me, or Hell-" Nanbu let out a laugh at himself, slapping his chest, "I never expected how attach I'd get to you either! Cero likes to mess with me and Hoto and you were a prime tool for him to use against me. I'm sorry Uno, if I'd been more careful that whole 'fiend cage' thing would've never happened."

"…It's…okay." Uno stood up, finding his feet prickly because he had weight on them for to long and had made the nerves fall asleep, "Ouch-"

"Long story wasn't it?" Nanbu looked at the floor again, "Sorry kiddo."

Uno finally let a full smile be directed at the captain once again, "It's okay Nanbu." After a pause, he added, "Everything is okay, Nanbu…"

Nanbu looked relived and for some reason hopeful, before he came somehow crestfallen again, "Kids-" He scoffed, mostly at himself, "They'll forgive anything won't they?"

"No's, not anything," Uno shook his head and stared at Nanbu when the captain dully lifted his eyes, "Just youse, cuz' youse deserve to be forgiven."

Nanbu coughed on a cruel inward laugh, "Forgiven? Me?"

* * *

><p>Sano wasn't naturally nosy. In fact, it was often in his nature to mind his own business and ignore all others. But he was naturally curious. Of course, his curiosity only stretched to himself and what concerned him. Everything else that people fretted over didn't have importance as long as it never got in his or his interest's way.<p>

And this was something that concerned him, or at least he made it so, and was dying to know. He had felt the urge to follow Hoto all the way to his room, and obliged it. It surprised him that his father didn't notice him doing it (being a Captain and an Assassin), even if he was careful and zigzagged through every possible afternoon shadow or hiding place.

"Whaddya want?" Hoto turned around at the very last moment before opening his dorm room, "Hmm?"

"Uhm," Sano, half-looking around the concrete corner at the stone steps of the dorm building, coughed nervously upon discovering his presence had been known the entire time. He stepped out from behind the cover, his head hanging low, "I was just-"

"Peh," His father sniffed lightly and smirked, turning and unlocking his door after he did, "Well-" His long arm pushed it open, "Come on in, son."

Sano stood in his spot for a moment, before rushing forward as his father seemed to be shutting the door whether he was on one side or the other. The door clicked and Sano turned around with a pinched face.

"What?" Hoto locked the door, not feeling for any surprise visits from Nanbu, as the man rarely knocked if the a door was simply left open. His son continued to glare at him for nearly shutting him out after inviting him in before the boy haughtily turned and took in his surroundings.

"I want to know something-" Sano's eyes traced around the room, his voice trailing off, as he noticed the plain light gray room with slight interest. One can tell a lot about a person by the way they lived, and one word could be used to describe this room-**sparse**.

A bare dark-wood table in the corner, a bed with a thin blanket over the crisply laid sheets, an adjoining bathroom as was common for the dorms, and a plain chair by the table. Empty floor space took up in front of where most put their bureaus for their clothes, a lonely suit case ready to take off at a moment's notice in its place, and the window had only a standard off-white curtain to block out the light. A small nightstand was by the bed's simple rectangle headboard and an alarm clock on the table's top, alone on the space of wood.

The small attached 'kitchen', which they were standing in as they stood just inside doorway, was even more blank than the rest of the room. Nothing sat in the sink, nothing graced the small three by two foot counter space, nor was anything on the stove in contradiction with how most men lived without cleaning up after themselves. Sano had this impression that there probably wasn't anything in the cupboards either. Except maybe some cigarettes since that's all Harlan seemed to live off of.

"Nice," Sano sniffed as he let his earlier thought die as he studied the room, finding a hint of tobacco in the air, despite the no smoking policy. "Does anyone even live in here?"

"Ha, funny," Hoto pushed past him to the bed, where he plopped down and untied his combat boots. Yanking them off, and then taking his time to stretch and massage the cricks out of his back from bending over his knees, he sighed and then motioned for Sano to come closer.

"Sir?" Sano took a step more into the room, before letting his feet plant into the end of the linoleum of the 'kitchen' space. It held no icebox, which made it seem less of a kitchen to Sano as he was used to seeing kitchens like the extravagant one he had in his home.

"You wanted to ask me something," Hoto snapped his attention from the small kitchen, "And I want to know what it is."

Sano cautiously bit at his words, starting the questioning with one that he didn't know the answer to, but not the one he quite wanted to know.

He was clever enough to know that his father's willingness to speak wouldn't last long. It drained out of him eventually, like a bucket with a crack in its bottom, that is, unless some great thought provoked him to ramble. And with rambling, the old man dropped the inner walls he made, and would forget what he did not want known and what was alright to say. He spoke rapidly and didn't have time to forge lies.

So, being clever, and feeding off of his knowledge of his father's behavior, Sano decided to get him to ramble by asking a series of questions leading to the one he really wanted. Which he devised as he tailed him.

"What does that lead assassin have in for you and Captain Nanbu?"

"Cero," Hoto spat the name out bitterly and ran a hand through his slicked back hair, rustling the strands and loosening them from the form a comb had put them in, "It's a mutual dislike. We don't like the way he runs things, and he doesn't like the way we think things should be done."

"Ah," Sano nodded, wanting a bit more information than was given but pretended to understand so that Hoto would relax a bit, and the inner walls would start to crumble.

Hoto rubbed the crook of his neck and shoulder with his opposite arm, popping his neck with some tightening in his expression. It cracked like he wanted and he loosened, opening his eyes again to look at his son, who obviously had another question dancing over his tongue.

"So what do you think should be done that he doesn't?" Sano didn't really care about the workings of the Assassin's high command, but the question seemed like a natural follow-up to the previous.

"The ridiculous regulations." Hoto sneered, "He's such a prick. He makes up these rules just to bug the hell out of Nanbu and me."

Sano lifted his eyebrows in mock-interest, "Really? I thought you said the boys only and the two to a group thing was tradition?"

"They were, but then again they were also set in a time when women were thought to be weaker than men," Hoto snorted a bit, obviously thinking of some woman in particular, "Yeah, right."

"What about the two to a group?" Sano waited for an answer, trying not to blurt out his other questions.

"That I don't know. Maybe it was simpler for the recorders to catch only one person on a recording, after all, they aren't supposed to miss a single detail," Hoto lifted his hand, "In case anything illegal were to go on while the assassins were on the mission. Not to mention if the assassin missed anything than the recording would be there to verify. If it were two assassins and one recorder than there maybe was too much going on for the recorder to catch. As for having two recorders for one assassin, well, that's excessive and pointless."

Sano shrugged his shoulders a bit, "Why not have a bigger group? Say, three assassins and two recorders? They'd probably catch everything that way."

"Well," Hoto lifted his inverted eyes to look straight at him, "You seem to forget that they are assassins, people who sneak to kill someone and sneak out. To leave no trace behind and to make the action a silent and quick one. It isn't something that many people need to be in on at once, for discretion purposes."

Sano nodded, "Makes sense. Now-"

Hoto interrupted him with a crackly laugh, "Why so many questions, boy?"

_To lower your carefully laid defenses-_

"Just simple curiosity, sir, " Sano awkwardly lifted the corner of his mouth and casually shrugged, "Just want to know a few things."

"Ask away," Hoto swiped his hand up through the air, then laid slowly and achingly down onto the bed on his side, propping his head up with one of his arms, "Try not to make them too hard though."

Sano chewed on his cheek before releasing the raw flesh from his teeth, "When you were going to take Jac to- I don't know where- but Jac wasn't going to be a trainee anymore-"

"He-erm, she would've still been a trainee, if she wanted to, but she'd just finish up as a woman this time in the normal ranks," Hoto nodded his head dully in apology for interrupting, "Your point?"

"Well," Sano decided to charge the wall to see if it was down, "When you were going to send Jac back to basic training as a girl, and Bask begged you not to and to ask Cero to let her stay, it sounded like there was someone else that you've tried to let in before. Erm, a girl?"

"I thought I said no hard ones?" Hoto recalled saying that, but he doubted he had made it clear as to what that applied to.

"Sir, what was he talking about?" Sano felt the curiosity, the dangerous cat-killing curiosity pick at his brain again, "What was Cero using to get under your skin?"

"Your mother. What else could he use against me?" Hoto frowned, "That or the kids-" He didn't' seem to be talking to Sano anymore, like he was talking to someone far off, which only signaled he was about to ramble, "Cero is a sadist. He doesn't have fun unless someone is bothered, and he attacks Nanbu and me because we're susceptible targets."

He stopped and Sano asked to get him to talk again, "What did Cero say?"

"Kotone wanted to join me in the Assassin's Corp., to be with me, can you believe that? That of course was before your dear eldest brother was born," Hoto laughed a bit in the pleasant and outrageous memory, and Sano started to smile at the image of his mother, his own gentle loving mother, as an assassin. Being pushed off of cliffs into the ocean, running around the base Yevon knows how many times, performing monotonous errands, learning about major arteries, Black Magic, Alchemy, and enchantments. Throwing up because her jerk of a spouse wanted to show here how to poison a weapon, without warning her of the effects. It was almost impossible to imagine and comical when he did.

"Cero made up the rule on the spot, 'Only men should be allowed in the Assassin's Corp.' I wanted to slug him in the face," Hoto hissed bitterly, "It was always men up until then but no official rule had been made. Cero is a bastard and wanted to see Kotone cry. So, he told the officials and got them to deny her the right to join."

Sano felt a bit sick at the image of his mother's tears, going so close to the image of blood on the ground and Yagi's yelling at him from atop the steps, "Ugh."

Hoto let his arm fall and his head landed into the mattress and blanket, "Cero explained to the high officials that it was because Kotone was my wife and no assassin should be having babies when they were carrying out their duties. It pissed me off because it made sense, but I knew that's not why Cero did it."

"Yeah," Sano breathed dully, "I don't think I like that guy."

"Meet one man that does and I'll punch him too," Hoto added with a bit of irritation in his voice, "That man is just a manipulative little-"

"Hey," Sano grabbed his attention again. His original question had been answered, he knew why Cero singled his father out in front of everybody with the situation with Jac, but now that cat-killer was nagging at him for more.

"What?" Hoto raised his head a little before his eyes cleared, and his wall visibly started to rise up, "Sano, sit down somewhere, you don't have to stand by the stove."

"Oh," Sano looked at his feet. He bent down and tugged at the strings of his boots before yanking them off by the heel. When he looked up again, his father was sitting on the bed, crossed legged, and motioning for him to sit down on the bed also. Though the chair was still an option, Sano sat closer to his father.

He crossed his legs in the similar fashion as Hoto and they sat in silence for a few moments.

"Hoto," Sano curled his fingers of one hand while scratching his palm with his other, "Did you really love mother?"

The scrap was still in Yagi's black pouch, at his side, though the paper was so crinkled now and torn at it's browned edges and also ineligible from all the times Sano had gotten wet with his training that it now served as a waste of space more than a memento. But he still remembered what it said: _I want to see Sano._ The words started to have less meaning to him after he met his father, knew him, but it still held an importance from when he was alone, and wondering who cared about him.

"What type of question is that?" Hoto lifted his chest up a little, "Of course I did."

"What about Letalis?"

"Ever met a man that doesn't love his first born son?" Hoto leaned back slightly, he was considering Sano and the boy knew it, "What are you getting at?"

"And Mia?" Sano closed his hand, his other hand balling up and falling into his lap as the other remained on his knee. Yagi's belongings started to burn at his hip, "And Yagi?"

"Yes, yes," Hoto nodded with his words, "They were my children Sano, as you are."

"What did you feel when Letalis and Yagi died?" Sano blurted out quickly, barely getting air between his words, "What did you feel when Mom died? Did you wonder how the rest of us were going to deal with it? Did you see Letalis when he was in the army and Yagi too? Did you know that I was going to have a little sister? Her name was going to be Gem and she was going to be mine. But then you had to send that stupid letter about Letalis!-"

Sano flew noiselessly into a emotional rage, unaware at first that the letters bothered him so badly. The first with the dark news and the second made him feel angry and guilty for treasuring the burnt scrap from it.

Sano pounded his knee, "Mom wouldn't stop crying! She cried and cried and then bled! I couldn't do anything, I couldn't stop it! Gem was mine damnit!" He choked and then swallowed painfully to try and compose himself.

"What are you-?" Hoto had already tensed up from the sudden change, the outburst of emotion that had been caged up for a while spilling out of his son in front of him, "-What are you talking about, Sano?"

"Your daughter that you never had!" Sano glared openly through his blurring eyes, though nothing tangible save the glower came out from them, he wouldn't allow it. A sickening calm spread through him as his father stared openmouthed at him, it almost felt like satisfaction. Sano spoke again, darkly, "You couldn't come then either. You sent that one letter- then Yagi tore it up and threw it into the fire. I burnt my hands getting it out but I could only get this one piece and- I told Mom what I remembered in it. I don't think I told her right because she- I promised I'd bring you back for her, I had just said that, and you sent that damned letter saying you couldn't!"

"You were just a boy then," Hoto shook his head, "I don't see how you could've brought me back. Mia and Yagi, yes I can see that, but you were practically a baby then."

Defensively, Sano snapped back, "Was not! I was smart enough to understand that mother was getting more ill until-" His teeth clicked against each other as his mouth clamped shut.

"Go on," Hoto dared with dark half-lidded eyes, "What were you going to say next, son?"

"Uhm," Sano felt the fight leave him, and he quickly stuttered out from fear of the blackness that was his father's emotion, "I-I don't blame you for mother's death, I really don't sir. I didn't mean for it to sound that way. I was just-"

"Stop," Hoto lifted his hand, his eyes hooding over, "Just stop."

"Yes, sir," Sano closed his mouth again. A gripping silence crept in, unlike the nice peaceful one before Sano's stupid outburst, and all Sano could hear was Hoto's ragged controlled breathing and his own rapidly beating heart. The silence was not to last though as the old solider spoke.

"So her name was Gem, huh?" Hoto smirked before it disappeared in a second, his hurting dark aura fading with it, "It's horrible that after all these years and the fact she was almost born that I didn't know that. She was so close-"

"Yeah," Sano softly nodded his heart slowly coming to a skittering beat instead of the stampede it was earlier.

Hoto raised his head from where it fell a bit, one eyebrow raised, "So what the Hell did you mean about her being your's?"

"I was just uh,-" Sano realized than that in his prodding to weaken Hoto's defenses, he had involuntarily weakened his own, "Uhm, that was just uh, I was just mad."

"Sure right," Hoto unconvincingly nodded, "I take it you had some weird delusion in her head that you were going to raise her, weren't you?"

"NO!" Sano's voice reached a high peak before cracking a little, raising an octave suddenly from his throat. His eyes narrowed at his father's low laugh, coughed a few times, and muttered in retaliation, "Shut up."

Sano didn't wish to raise Gem per say all those years before, but being her shining knight and yes, taking care of her came to mind back then.

"Fine with me, though you would've had some competition. I was planning on raising her myself this- that time," Hoto wistfully looked down to the bedspread, "I guess it would've never happened even if Gem was born."

Sano was curious again, it was a good thing he didn't have a cat, it would have about two lives left from its nine, "How were you going to do it?"

Hoto tilted his head back and laughed, "It sounds stupid now!"

"What? What?"

"Well, let's just say after Letalis's death, I was sorely depressed and stupidly tried to find comfort…erm, in other words, I drank myself into a state. Well, in that vulnerable position, do you think Cero wouldn't take advantage of that? He proposed a bet, that in my drunken stupor I foolishly accepted. My freedom from the Assassin's Corp. vs. my money in a poker game. As dumb as I was at the time, I happened to lose- but Cero proposed another bet that we played."

"What was that, sir?"

Hoto let his forehead fall into his palm, his neck bent as he shook his head, "Ah, well-"

Sano leaned closer in.

"If I were to beat him in a fight, one on one, than I would be free. If not then I would have to go on this ridiculous mission for five years by myself in the farthest dusty regions below the Calm Lands, but after that I would be free to go. It…sounded good at the time…I mean, I got to go home either way, right?"

Harlan suddenly fell silent, thoughtfully grim.

Sano whispered, for reasons he didn't quite know,"You lost, didn't you?"

"Terribly," His father answered, "It took me two days alone to even remember what I did while I was drunk, and the bet I made. Then took me about a month more to recover from the thrashing he gave me, then well, I went on my mission so that in five years I could come home. I couldn't tell anyone, not even Nanbu, about the bet Cero and I made or the deal was off. So I kept my mouth shut and wrote a quick letter-"

"Oh," Sano looked down, understanding which letter that was.

"-Five years was a long time, but I figured I could come home and finally get around to the fathering business. Even if you'd had been a teenager and Gem would've been past her toddling days when I did."

"And the deal?" Sano counted in his head, "The deal is still good right? Then you could go home!"

"What home?" Hoto's words came as a punch in the face to Sano, "What home is there for me? Back in the Moonflow? Mia wouldn't have me five feet from the front gate unless I brought you along. And for your information boy, the deal I made with Cero doesn't apply to you. You'd be stuck here as an assassin and if you don't mind, I'd rather stay and train you myself than let Cero pick some maniacal senior-assassin do it for me."

"Is that right, sir?" Sano lifted up a corner of his mouth and bared one canine, "Well, doesn't that just sound interesting? Are you trying to tell me you did that ludicrous mission anyways?"

"No, I came back after Nanbu came and got me. Cero figured the deal was off when he got word of Kotone's death and sent Nanbu to pick me up," Hoto shook his head and roughly sighed, "I didn't even-"

Sano felt some weight in his chest lift, his father wasn't the best, Yevon knows he could've been better. But Sano now knew why. And he was glad of it. They both shared something, regrets, and it was comforting to know that Hoto had suffered as much as he from the ordeal, as sadistic as that sounded.

"Yeah," Sano mumbled, his voice low, "There's lots of stuff we didn't do, isn't there?"


	14. Introductions

**By Stormytitan**

**A/N: Read this carefully, it might get a little bit confusing otherwise…**

* * *

><p>"WHAT!?" The boys, some with their breakfasts falling out of their mouths, all shouted in tune with each other at the outrageous thing that Captain Hoto had just said.<p>

Hoto ,grimacing accordingly, picked at his ear with his little finger, trying in vain to force the following ringing out, "Cero is holding another competition; all you trainees against the other assassin's apprentices."

Sano growled the loudest over the other boy's complaints, whines, and protests, "What for?!"

Harlan sighed, "He's curious to know who ended up better assassins. It's 'beneficial' knowledge for the future, he says, for when he decides on the instructors for next round's batch, or assigns missions. He wants to see the full scope of all the apprentices abilities. But, more importantly, in his case anyways, it's also so he knows who to recommend to officials when they want a certain grisly job done to earn brownie points."

Uno's voice shot through the dull roar of groans next, "Isn't he happy 'nough that me's and Jac had that fight to the death thing?"

"Yeah!" Jac, or rather Jacqueline, as they later learned was her actual name, piped up from her end of the table, not having said a word until that moment.

"Don't shoot the messenger," Hoto moaned dimly and removed his little finger from his ear canal, resigning that his hearing was going to hurt either way, "Cero concocted this tournament for his own entertainment…Though, I'm confident that even you, Uno, will pass this time."

"Really?" Sano let out something like a snort and turned in his seat away from the table and his breakfast, "What sort of easy competition is it, then?"

"There is other assassins you know, and they all have their own trainees under their wings. Granted, they have trained two more years than all of you, but due to the conditions of your training, you all are extremely advanced. I'm sure you'll do fine pinned up against them."

"WHAT?!" The boys shouted again, only a high-pitched Jac joined in this time.

"Ow…oi," Hoto returned his pinky to his ear in a belated attempt to block the sound from entering his ear drum.

"Yeesh," Nanbu, returned to his old spirits after the encounter with Cero three weeks before, cringed at their shouting. "Look kiddos, these other kids aren't near as good as you. You guys have the best teachers after all."

"Doesn't that sound just a bit conceited?" Sano had doubt laced in his voice as he frowned deeply and his chin sank.

Uno flipped his legs over the side of the table's bench, looking at the instructors, all of them, as they stood at the mess hall's entrance, "Im's happy that I get a second chance at this provin' mah'self stuff, but I wanna live to see the end of it!"

"What makes you think you won't little apprentice?" Nanbu smiled and leaned down to Uno with a arrogant smile, "I taught you very well."

In the past three weeks, the Captains announced that it was time for them to yet again be brought up another level. This was to specialize them, and to finally assign them to positions. As they wanted, Uno was to become a recorder, and Sano an assassin. Groto became a recorder also, and Itgu and Jac both became assassins.

What's more, they were also to become apprentices, a level above trainees, and be taught separate from the others in specific fields. Harlan, of course, picked Sano to finish polishing him into a proper assassin and teach him the necessary knowledge in becoming one.

Nanbu nabbed Uno, and handed him a recorder, instruction manual, and started having training sessions with him early in the morning. He also worked hard to make sure that Uno met all the requirements that were going to be expected of him as a Yevon recorder, and as a lightly used assassin as would be expected of an Assassin's Corp. recorder.

Surprisingly, this entailed a lot more than anyone realized; translating runes, restoring damaged images, analyzing spheres, and organizing them into a proper enough state for turning in to the officials, namely Cero. Learning all the modernly used languages and the many functions and settings of a recorder up and down. Not to mention exercises in acute observation, memorization, and training the reflexes.

Sano felt a pang of pity for him, and Groto too, at first, before realizing his plate was also full. He, Itgu, and Jac had to learn all about poisons, do endless what-if situations in carrying out a proper assassination, plus train, and train, and train some more to hone their skills. Not to mention all the book work…

And that wasn't including all the side skills they still learned as a group or the specific details that they were separated for to acquire.

Kodai, with the permission to have an apprentice of his own at long last, picked Groto, much to the timid boy's gulping fear as he still remembered the dark powers in Kilika. The magician wasted no time to start teaching his unique powers to Groto, starting with the low level magic skills the boys would've otherwise learned after the Alchemy training incident, and if they had more time at the Moonflow.

Lastly, Bask formally asked Cero for permission for an apprentice himself. Surprisingly enough, and to the suspicion of Captain Hoto and Nanbu, he carelessly agreed without any more convincing.

Distrust aside, Bask took Jac on as his apprentice and he and the girl almost made permanent home in the Alchemist's workshop in the Science Department (a sadly small department of the whole Bevellian army) and trained most diligently throughout the day, if the occasional explosion or too was of any indication.

Meanwhile, Itgu flitted between all the instructors, mostly sticking beside Sano and Harlan now, since sparing and firearms was more interesting than chemicals, magic, or recorders.

But, that did not stop the group lessons. The boys gathered in the evening still, as it was just how it worked out, where they learned the tricky craft of disguise and a little clever acting. Something that Jac, of course, succeeded at. They also had a study period in the last moments before bunk time, devoted to catching up on the heavy reading that they didn't have time for during the day.

And this had all been crammed into the past three weeks and appeared to be their life in the near future. Which made the news of another competition, against more experienced apprentices that had already been doing this before them, both unexpected and slightly frightening.

However, to the instructors, it wasn't so much as troublesome as just out of place, and they simply shrugged it off. Not a one of them paid any mind or was bothered by the announcement. Together, they seemed to agree with Hoto, offering their rare praise on their exquisite skills.

To prove it, Nanbu presently smiled at Uno and patted his head, "Nothing to worry about kid, you'll be fine. Just don't be afraid to kick some ass."

Jac smiled lightly, "I'll participate as well, right?"

"With caution, you are to conceal your gender." Hoto answered and puffed on the end of his cigarette.

"No problem," Jac made the O.K. symbol with her fingers, "Like always."

"So how old are our opponents going to be compared to us?" Groto asked nervously, pointing it naturally towards his master in training.

"Two or three years older," Kodai slowly blinked, "Sixteen, seventeen, I'm certain there is one eighteen year old."

Groto's face paled, and he dramatically moaned and fell into his arms, "We're going to die!"

Kodai blinked, a cool flash of water swimming and moving the yellow in his eyes like molten gold, before he said dryly, "Well, perhaps that's a possibility."

"Aw, don't worry!" Nanbu exclaimed again at Groto's blanched expression, "I'm telling' ya, I've seen those other apprentices! They're no match for you guys! I mean come on, all five of you fought against a Sin Spawn, and lived. You've dealt with Cero's conniving ways and came out alright, and you have the best damn teachers around!"

The rising stares of the apprentices were anything but hopeful.

"We're meeting them tonight, so don't worry about conditioning today." Hoto spoke without any real care to their fears, a form of lazy confidence behind his sleepy and at ease expression. "We're going to get fresh formal uniforms pretty soon, and I'm going to try to quickly slapdash some proper manners into all of you before we see them."

Tailing his words, the captain let a smoke ring up into the open air from his pursed lips, and his feet propped him off of the table's top. The apprentices let their shoulders fall, knowing that they probably had little hope in learning manners from him.

Itgu muttered though the following silence, "Wow, this is kind of big deal, isn't it?"

Hoto smirked, "More than kind of. Try not to get to worked up over it though. It's nothing like the test before. The worse that will happen is you show all of the Assassin Corp. that Captain Nanbu and I have a little less than ready assassin apprentices."

The faces that peered at him were enough to make him gulp and shake his head.

"Erm, I meant that you really _don't _have to be ready yet. I mean, Luck! You've only been apprentices for a few weeks!" Harlan adjusted himself to where his chair sat properly on all four legs, "Still though, I think you'll do fine…"

"I don't think you're helping…" Kodai informed blandly.

It was true, all the apprentices looked ready to lose their breakfasts over it.

* * *

><p>"Hmph," The man who worked at the uniform parlor wasn't pleased with the way Sano's or Uno's fitting was going.<p>

"Whut? Don't say Im's fat or something," Uno squirmed away from the tailor who was tugging on the back of his pants. He kept grumbling, more so than the man that worked on Sano, and a few times a sharp pin end managed to find it's way through the heavy material to prick at his poor chubby legs.

"I can deal with wide people," The moody tailor sniffed, his wizened face fighting against the forces of gravity a little more strongly today it seemed, before mumbling, "But you're so short…and very wide on top of that too…"

"Can't youse jus' make it shorter?" Uno looked over his shoulder and yelped when he felt a prick, "Yipe!"

The tailor readjusted the end of the pin to hold up the bottom of the pants better, and harrumphed fairly loud. "What do you think I'm doing, boy?"

"Oi, owowowowowowow!" Sano looked out of the corner of his pinched eyelids at the second tailor, who was currently shaking his head and pulling up on the whole assortment with quick yanks and jerks at the material. Sano felt another thoughtless tug, moving the already tight uniform into more unappreciated places, and pinching here and there. He finally agitatedly spat, "Watch what you're doing!"

The man yanked the waistline of the pant line, apparently unable to hear the acid-toned demand, and Sano winced as it was uncomfortably adjusted against a more private and sensitive place than he wanted a detestable dark green uniform pressed too tightly up against. The tailor, thankfully, let go of it again after putting another pin in place, before letting the whole thing fall loosely to his thin hips.

To Sano's dismay, he put a hand to his chin and shook his head again. Another adjustment was needed to the damn pants. This time, before going to work on it again, the tailor commented, "You have such an interesting shape boy. Such wide shoulders, but a tiny waist…"

Sano looked over his shoulders again as the man worked from behind, and narrowed his eyes sharply, "So what? Just do your job!"

"No need for the attitude, Sano," Hoto looked at Groto's finished product and nodded his approval to the tailor that tended to him, "You are just giving them a little bit more work than they usually have to do. And it's a little bit of my fault, we are putting them on a rush job after all, coming out of nowhere as we did."

"That doesn't give them an excuse to be so incompentant in their jobs-!" Sano bit before yipping, "Ow!" At a distinct prick in his hip, a little too deep to have been entirely on accident.

"Uhm, Cap't?" Uno looked slowly up to Captain Nanbu, who was currently leaning against a wall patiently waiting, before the boy suddenly felt another prick himself, "Ow-ouch!"

"What?" Nanbu checked over Itgu's completed uniform set, tugged on the arm, and motioned for the tailor that did Groto's uniform to come closer, saying, "It needs to fit tighter around the wrist."

"Yes sir," The tailor smiled and brought out the little cloth apple that had pins sticking out of it from his pocket.

"Hey!" Uno yelled at Nanbu again and dragged it out, before another pinch of pain prickled his leg, "Yow!"

"Yes, what?" Nanbu's eyes swept through the air and landed on Uno, his mouth spreading into a wide grin at the amount of wiggling that Uno was engaged in, the pricks of misplaced needles adding another move in the otherwise shorter dance.

"How many of these guys are there?" Uno frowned and swallowed a yelp from another prick from the unsteady handed tailor.

Nanbu rubbed his bearded chin, knowing without asking that Uno was yet again referring to the other older apprentices. He turned his head to the side to think, and at length, answered, "Hmm, let's see, it's just Rogo and Malkio. That makes two apprentices right there that they trained. But then I think their two previous students have their own, so then that's four. There's four isn't there, Hoto?"

"Six." Hoto corrected with a scowl, "They have six. Rogo trained two this year and Uguro had his own apparently."

"Oh," Uno gulped, "That don' sound good."

"You'll do fine," Nanbu assured, "You're worth two yourself."

"Yeah right," Uno's head flopped down, "There's no way we's can win in anything against them, can we's? They's been doing this longer than us, they're older, they's-!"

"Sure you can!" Nanbu interrupted him with his encouragement, and like any other statement of praise he had intermittently interjected throughout the day, the words had fallen to deaf ears.

"There's no way!" Uno whined before jumping in the air, "Ayow!"

"Are you done?" Hoto looked at the tailor working on Sano before another, the one that worked on Groto and Itgu, tapped on his shoulder and pointed to a **No Smoking **sign. Hoto's inverted eyes glanced down at the glowing end of the stick in his mouth, before wriggling it between his lips. The man shot him a more forceful look and Hoto reluctantly nodded and dismissed him with a brisk wave.

Hoto ground the cigarette out into the sign and flicked it into a trashcan full of small bits of thread and scraps of green colored cloth, before looking back up to the tailor that worked on Sano.

"Just about," The more good-natured one out of the four tailors answered, finally smiled, then smacked Sano's shoulder with a cheerful, "Alright, finished!"

Sano flinched and rubbed his starchy shoulder with a sneer.

The fourth tailor, a woman, came out from behind a curtain with a finished Jac in a male uniform. She smiled and pushed Jac out into the room with the rest of them, "Here he is."

The woman had already agreed not to tell anyone of Jac's gender with a confidentiality signature on a piece of parchment that Kodai produced for her, so there was no cause to worry.

"Here is Rekis." The woman gestured for Jac to join beside the tailored boys before stepping back and smiling brighter. Jac herself was beaming, proud and more than happy to be wearing the uniform in its stiff and pristine condition.

Though the same couldn't be said about the rest of them, who was shifting awkwardly in their attires. Sano, like when his sister got married and he was shoved into that ridiculous monkey-suit, was displeased. Uno was unaccustomed to the feeling of formal wear as Groto and Itgu, and resisted against struggling within the confining material. Itgu was already unbuttoning the high neck part, while Groto sat obediently aside, waiting for more orders, but itching crazily all over and that caused his white face to twitch and writhe comically.

Taking no notice to their states, however, Nanbu roared, "Okay! Rekis, Trenraka, Mydo, Wenic, and Sedevan! Move out, we're already running late."

Sano pulled on his collar of his buttoned jacket, and grumbled loud enough for his father to hear, "Ugh, I can hardly breath."

"Stop moving your mouth and start moving you legs," Hoto pressed against his back to push him out the door, "Come on."

Sano felt the familiar hated itch from formal wear as he walked down the short steps of the shop.

Whoever said that formal clothes had to be uncomfortable should be _formally_ executed for the discomfort they forced on everyone else. After some thought to it, Sano concluded that, most likely, the grand inventor of this type of attire was a man like Cero, and enjoyed people suffering. It wouldn't be a great loss to society if such a man were to just disappear.

Sano swore to himself that once he had to wear formal clothes again, it would be comfortable or he just wouldn't attend the event in the proper clothes at all. He couldn't stand another occasion where these clothes were the only option.

"This is itchy," Uno scratched at the collar and disheveled it, "Eyugh…"

"Stop that," Nanbu fixed it and promptly pushed against the back of his head, sending him a few steps ahead faster. The captain then firmly stated, "Don't mess it up. Rogo and Malkio are really specific about appearances and you don't want to make your training master look bad, do you?"

"No's," Uno jutted out his bottom lip, "But why's does it matter?"

"It matters because Rogo and Malkio are specific about it," Nanbu answered plainly and rubbed the back of his muscled neck. His hair, which was usually messily pulled into a ponytail, had been washed and recently combed. However, due to the lack of care any other day, it was still in a right messy state and looked horrendously tousled.

Nanbu, all too aware of it, added dimly when he saw that his earlier answer was an unsatisfying answer for Uno, "And well, you could say that skill-wise Captain Hoto and I may be the best around, but for appearances and stance and presence and all that, Rogo and Malkio beat us ten to none. Let's not let them show us up too much, alright?"

Hoto, to the statement, looked around at the awkward faces of the boys over his hunched shoulder.

The faces that were not children yet obviously not quite men, all twitched awkwardly in the feeling of the stiff clothes. And though for the most part clean, they were far from being called presentable.

Sano was frowning due to his discomfort and his bottom eyelids crinkled into his eyes making him look old and grouchy, while Uno's bumbling face was twisted sideways as he squirmed in an inelegant way in his still ill-fitting uniform. Groto was pale and the dark contrast of army green made his skin look whiter than it already was, a bleached parchment color, and the bright shocks of dark red hair made it appear like his head was bleeding profusely. Jac looked the most excellent out of them, but she lacked the toughness that would make her look like a formidable opponent to anyone, being smaller and softer looking than the rest.

Hoto sighed, thinking, _No, presence was something we always lack. Any day of the week._

"Alright," Hoto fished out another cigarette and bit the brown papered end, giving last minute instructions, "When you see them, don't flinch, don't cower, don't sneer Sano, and don't smile like an idiot. Just stand tall and be as emotionless as possible. Look straight ahead, don't say anything to them even if they ask something of you. We'll answer all the questions, got it? That's an order."

"Yes sir!" The boys were in unison and their steps were in rhythm with each other, though they didn't know it. They moved surely and their postures were naturally straight, without being too ridged. Hoto let a sigh escape his cramped chest.

Perhaps they had a little bit more presence than they were given credit for.

* * *

><p>They entered the base and continued in a straight line down to a building, which original purpose was to provide space to drill the cadets and for graduation ceremonies and other things that needed the clean concrete space.<p>

Kodai and Bask joined them right before they entered the structure, much to the relief of the Captains and apprentices alike who was beginning to wonder where they had gone.

Just inside the door of the building there was a short hallway with some offices and storage rooms on the sides before it opened up into the gym-like space where the other apprentices were already waiting for them in a straight militaristic line.

"Rogo," Hoto smirked and the man standing a little in front of the two lines, the adult training masters in the back and the older teenage apprentices presented in the front, tipped his chin a little at the acknowledgement and answered with his own somewhat lofty-

"Ah, Captain Hoto, Captain Nanbu, now why am I not surprised that you'd be late?" Rogo was smiling, but chillingly and with a low chuckle that sounded like a tiger's growl in his throat as he ignored the well hidden glares. He continued with a quick business-like turn on his heel to the opposing apprentices, "Well, I suppose we should have introductions just the same."

"Agreed." Hoto said tightly and motioned with his arm for the apprentices to step into line and for Kodai and Bask to wait just behind them.

As the boys and Jac strung themselves together in front of the taller apprentices, they tried to not let their faltering spirits show, and sadly failed. Their heads sank ever so little and their shoulders bent backward as they forced themselves straight. Their chins were up and an occasional gulp escaped as the other apprentices stared down at them with wolfish eyes.

The others were all fitted well, with rapiers at their sides, and had straight unwrinkled pants unlike their own that they ruined while walking. They all looked menacing like their instructors. They looked superior, and knowledgeable. Their faces were straight and serious while their stance were ones expected of army men of any rank. They all had young faces, but of course, they were still more taller, matured, and older than the 'boys' of the Hoto-Nanbu regiment.

The boys and Jac suddenly became aware of their generally rumpled appearances, but kept silent and hopefully convincingly well disciplined.

Sano and Uno, stealthily, let their eyes slide over to study the opposite line, seeing what they were up against exactly.

Rogo, the man Hoto first addressed, was a semi-built man with pale eyes under silvery white hair, though he didn't look near old enough to sport that color naturally. His hair was clean looking, unlike Hoto and Nanbu's who either looked oily or ratty, and it was brushed back into a sleek wolf's tail on the back of his head.

His partner Malkio, which was assumed because he was standing directly behind him but was too old to be an apprentice, was tall and well-built, in a way that one would imagine Knights being like, while still staying handsome. His striking pale blue eyes stood in dark contrast against his swarthy skin and creamy blonde colored hair. His mouth was straight, neither frowning nor smiling, and a scar ran up the corner of his lip, a white colored line over his deeply tanned skin. The man was a mute shadow to his partner, and didn't make any noise when he breathed.

Head Captain Uguro stood first in the line of apprentices, his own just in front of him, whom, it was safe to assume, was the eighteen year old since he was the tallest out of the already taller teens. Uguro's apprentice had a similar braid trailing down his temple just like him, only with a cone bead at the end to cut off the rest of his brown-black hair. His peach skin was clear and washed, and his face was groomed into a small goatee at the end of his square chin. He looked very knight-like, with the same muscle structure as Malkio, and he had a noble aura that surrounded him and made Itgu shrink uncomfortably and somewhat moodily down into his shoulders a little.

Jac stood in front of Rogo's apprentice, an empty space behind him for his training master, and held her head up high with a haughty air which fought with the powerful quality that radiated from the young man before her. He had purple eyes and dark eyelashes that made his deeply browned face appear dirty, but upon closer inspection, it was just the way the eyelashes laid around his violet hues. He was silent like Malkio, but had a cruel glint in his eyes like Rogo. His black hair was spiky and appeared near uncontrollable, but yet it did lay in a uniform direction against one side of his face like the wind had blown it there and left it.

Malkio's apprentice was small, in size and in shape. But his face was rigid, his jaw set, and his outline seemed to be made up of entirely harsh and sharp angles and planes. His chestnut brown hair was slicked back against his head with care and a sort of antisocial air surrounded him making Groto, who stood in front of him, noticeably tremble though the young man said nothing to him.

Rogo's second apprentice held himself in a snobbish and superior way and a smirk escaped the boys light apricot lips toward Sano, who despite orders, scowled back. His light brown hair was long and it fell past his shoulders in a perfect and untouched by anything way, with no fly away's or knots to ruin it. Sano remembered he hadn't combed his hair that morning and had simply pulled it into a high pony tail and his bangs were falling into half of his face even then. His scowl deepened much to the others apparent amusement.

Rogo's former apprentice was large and had a very regal boy in front of him, his own apprentice. The apprentice wore steel rimmed glasses on his high arched nose, and stood in great contrast to the large teacher, as he was made to look thinner than he probably was. His glasses were circular and over-sized, making his small green eyes appear a tad bit bigger behind them. His cheekbones were high on his face holding the glasses up, his mouth was well curved, and his chin was narrow. His hair was cut straight across his shoulders, making a perfect line, and was pulled back by a blue cloth into a straight cut, neck brushing, pony tail. The bangs that had escaped the ponytail graced the left side of his upper cheekbone as he haughtily held his head up. Uno looked incredibly unrefined when he was put in front of him. Especially since Uno had wiggled the uniform enough to where it was obvious it wasn't tailored very well and very hastily, and had rumpled it nicely.

Malkio's former apprentice was a plain average army man with a military styled buzzed haircut. His apprentice was a boy with a sickly hue, dark circles under his eyes, and an acidic yellow-green colored stare, which pointed stubbornly straight ahead as no one stood in front of him.

Hoto held his hand out to Sano first, causing the latter to snap his eyes back in front of him before his father noticed. Hoto's smoke- abraded voice introduced with a touch of pride, "My son Sano Trenraka."

"Ah, your son," Rogo smiled with a wide closed-mouth grin, "What an honor, wouldn't you agree Hoto? To train one's own son?"

"I suppose," Hoto didn't back away a step, though it appeared to Sano that he might've wanted to. Hoto held his arm out a little more to direct their attention to trembling Groto, "And that timid one there is Groto Sedevan."

A light-hearted chuckle escaped the apprentice's mouths on the opposite line. Hoto had meant it jokingly, but Groto looked timid as he said and more. By all means, it looked like he was about to breakout into a sweat from just standing in front of the stocky and stoic apprentice who jittered him.

Hoto coughed, noticing his error too late before going on to Jac, "Jac Rekis, our leading trainee in Alchemy."

He didn't mention only but it sounded better that way.

Jac noticed the dark-skinned and wild looking apprentice in front of her flash a friendly smile, and it was admittedly rather attractive looking. She swallowed down the heat in her cheeks that it caused, effectively hiding any sign that would've otherwise come up, before the apprentice opened his grin into words.

"He's cute." Rogo's apprentice turned to his peers and they joined him in a polite and quiet laugh while Jac's attraction dissolved then and there, and a frown replaced all of it.

"Itgu Wenic," Hoto gestured, now that his arm was too short to reach over the heads of the boys, towards the trainee mentioned.

"And who-" Malkio spoke for the first time in a silent and crackly voice, "-is his training master?"

He had noticed that Kodai stood behind Groto, Captain Nanbu behind Uno, and Bask behind Jac. Itgu was alone.

"He has none," Hoto noticed Itgu flinch and grind his teeth in his mouth, "He will soon though." And with that Itgu relaxed.

"Uno Mydo!" Nanbu's loud booming voice echoed in the building. His beefy hand landed on Uno's chaotic and clumpy black hair, and he vigorously ruffed it up, obviously not caring about looks anymore now that the first impression had all been ruined. With no effort whatsoever to hide his pride, he announced, "He's _my_ apprentice."

"Mydo?" Rogo's mouth curled, and he exchanged a glance behind him with Head Captain Uguro, who grinned knowingly and even dipped his head in a single verifying nod. Uno stiffened, and the looks did not go past Captain Nanbu either, who waited for him to say anything more and uncover the meaning of it. He did not have to wait long, "That wouldn't also happen to refer to Mydo the Mourner?"

"No," Nanbu's voice turned into a hard edge, "It doesn't."

Uno subtly ducked his head, and for the fist time, though he couldn't explain it, a little bit of shame about his grandfather found its way through his face to his chest. He was still proud of his grandfather as ever, but he knew what the Yevon Army thought of him. It was not a high opinion, or something he should brag about being associated with, yet it never bother him before now.

That didn't stop his round face form burning.

Rogo smiled wider, "Oh, of course it doesn't. Silly me."

Malkio seemed to want to change the subject and spoke with a quick but still roughly silent voice, "I suppose we should introduce our own apprentices then."

"Ah yes," Rogo nodded, but still did not quite turn fully to them. Instead, he mused, "I'm guessing these are their real names though, and not chosen like your own Hoto?"

Harlan lifted a brow, clearly surprised from the question, before he gave his head a brisk nod, "Yes. They are orphans though." Hoto then wiggled the cigarette he still had in his mouth, "They have no need for a chosen name."

"Being that this is your son," Rogo gestured his upwards palm towards Sano, "Don't you think that he should have a chosen name? Or was this boy the only reason you changed your own, Hoto?"

"No-erm-" Hoto turned to Sano briefly though his words carried over to Rogo, "Sano will think up a new name for himself and we'll get back to you."

"Very good," The man nodded once again and looked down directly at Sano, "I look forward to see what interesting name you come up for yourself."

"Uhm," Sano opened his mouth, his voice sounding odd in the silence, "Thank you, sir…?"

Hoto shifted his weight and looked at all the 'boys', "That goes for all of you, if you wish it."

"Yes sir!"

"Ah, well," Rogo smiled, a relieved tone in his voice, "At least they have that down-" The echo of the chorused reply was not enough to hide his mumbled comment.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Nanbu's voice shot quickly through the still air, and carried the edge that had yet to dissipate from Uno's introduction.

Hoto's voice cut in, sharper, "Nanbu, don't get defensive."

"Yes, don't Captain. I meant no insult." Rogo chuckled and waved two submissive and peaceable hands in front of him with a good-humored expression.

"Your students' names?" Kodai glared hard though his yellow eyes at Rogo, who cleared his throat.

"Yes, my apprentice's name is Simion," The dark skinned and black eyelashed one bowed his head a bit. "And Malkio's apprentice is named Riot."

"Riot?" Groto gulped when Malkio's apprentice blinked at him with a evil stare behind his hooded eyes.

"My chosen name." Riot, his stubby body tensing, lifted his head and jutted out his sharply angled chin, before he severely bit out," I won't tell you my real name. **Ever**, Grogo."

"Uhm, it's Groto," Groto corrected and dipped his head a little, trying to hide the somewhat irritated expression, "Pleased to meet you."

"Hmph."

"My former apprentice is Ninshi and Malkio's former is Wapren, but you already know them," Rogo seemed to do the introductions for the instructors benefit instead of the apprentices, and now that the boys thought about it, Hoto had done the same.

"Ninshi's apprentice is named Kilio," Rogo held his hand to the steel rimmed glasses trainee before moving his hand over to Wapren's sickly looking apprentice, "This is Maske."

Rogo looked at Uguro and the Head Captain smiled, "My apprentice is the eighteen year old you all heard about-" He gestured to the knightly one with the side braid, "This is Eno."

"And of course!" Rogo pulled the one standing in front of Sano, the snobbish one, up from the line by his shoulders, "This is my best student, Borne."

"Borne?" Sano spat out the word, resentful towards the other boy from the way he had been boastfully looking at him the entire time. It was as if he had already assumed that Sano would be no competition to him whatsoever. This annoyed Sano greatly.

"It's my chosen name," Borne said, like Riot had, only with a haughty sniff afterward. Sano scoffed in response, thinking, _what's with these people and their ridiculous names? _and it apparently showed on his face as the opposing apprentice held his head up a little higher, a smile ghosting his lips, "I'll tell you later why I called myself that,** Sano**."

"I don't think I'd care." Sano sniffed and wished he had a name already so that he was on equal standing with the snob.

"Oh, it's interesting though," Borne smiled, "You'll care."

_What a pretentious- _Sano pinched his eyelids and sneered, "I don't think so."

"Don't be rude-" Hoto warned and looked at Borne, "And don't use Sano's real name anymore. He'll be called something different soon enough, so don't even bother learning it."

"Yes sir, forgive me," Borne bowed a little at his hip, his hand going to his chest, and smiled wider upwards. Harlan looked slightly confused for a moment over the unneeded formality, before Rogo's laugh flitted over them all. Hoto tilted his head up as the other assassin commander folded his hands behind his back and gestured to his apprentice with a flick of his head.

"Quite a little suck-up," Rogo gave a light shrug to his shoulder, "But, he has skills so I tolerate him."

Borne kept smiling like what was said about him was something to be proud of. Sano tilted his head back and something of a grimace was slapped over his mouth. A dozen and one insults danced over his mouth and he had an urge to let them fly. The boy's mere aura was just that irritating.

"Not to cut this short-" Hoto spoke up quickly as Sano started to really seethe from the look that Borne kept giving him, "-But we do have other business. I suppose that means the end of this then, hmm?"

"Oh, of course," Rogo took a step back and gave one last appraising look over the opposing line, apparently not finding much worth, "We need to rest up for the little tournament then don't we?" Then with one little sharp pull at the corner of his mouth, he added, "Ah, and did you know that some officials and monks will be there too? To see the...potential in the future ranks of the Assassin's Corp."

To Sano's surprise, Hoto didn't hesitate in answering snidely, "Oh yes, I'm sure they'd all be very interested in that, considering they've been using our services a lot more recently, haven't they?"

Rogo's eyes widened and for the first time, his smile dropped from his face. It was such a drastic change and so sudden, that Sano half expected his fake-cheery face to be on the floor at his feet the way the un-amused expression consumed his grin.

Hoto was apparently satisfied as he turned back toward the exit with a smirk and a final, "I just hope Cero knows what he is doing."

Rogo nodded his agreement, his voice back to the slick tone as it was before, "Yes, it would be unfortunate if we lost the young apprentices because of his little game."

Hoto grabbed Sano's shoulder and forced him to turn about-face toward the outside doors, "No, for your own apprentices sake, he better know what he's doing."

Sano gulped then, feeling the pressure of the situation.

Uno was the last to turn around, and the only one to see the sickly apprentice's crooked smile and see him mouth the words-

_You are all dead_.

* * *

><p>Uno shook the shudder from his nerves and caught up with the other apprentices, "Blugh, Tha' didn't go so well…"<p>

"I hate them!" Jac crossed her arms and huffed, "Ugh, **cute**! Like I'm **cute!**"

"That Borne guy is going to wish he never was born," Sano hissed and kicked at the loose stones on the ground, "Such an arrogant and self-indulgent ass."

"Tha' Maske kid is creepy," Uno jumped to add and shook the tainted-teeth smile from his head, shivering at it's image. _You are all dead…_

Itgu frowned and looked at Hoto, "Whaddya mean I get my own instructor soon?"

"I suppose it wouldn't kill me to take on another one. Rogo did after all," Hoto sighed, "If anyone asks from this time on, you're my second apprentice."

"Oh, you're going to make me cry, Hoot," Nanbu pretended to wipe a tear away from his right eye, "How sweet, man. You care about how little Itgu feels."

"Can it," Hoto wiped under his long nose, "And stop calling me Hoot!"

"Hoot, hoot, hoot," Nanbu grinned when the other Captain rolled his eyes, "Heh, anyways, don't worry kiddos. You'll do alright."

"When are we going against them?" Groto looked up from where he was wringing his pale hands together, "When?"

"In two days," Hoto grabbed Itgu and Sano's shoulders, "Intense training until then. Let's go. I don't want to regret not teaching you anything before then."

Nanbu rounded up Uno and moved toward the training grounds while Bask wrapped a long arm around Jac's shoulder and pushed her along to the science department.

Kodai and timid Groto was left in the night and the Black Mage looked down at the overly nervous boy. He turned with a swish in his long purple robes, his head jerking to the side a bit, "Let's go."

"Yes sir," Groto gulped and greatly feared what 'intense training' meant to the Magician.


	15. Finally Friends

**By Stormytitan**

**A/N: Man, this is gotta be one of my most longest and self indulgent pieces I'll ever work on...As far as I know, nobody cares about this *this far in any case* But I'm still making this up to a four part-er not including the long and multiple chapters in the second part alone! (And there might be a *sequel* that spreads into them joining the Leblanc Syndicate, and possibly another _after _the game events, but meh, I'm getting ahead of myself and I'm not sure.)**

** BUT WHY NO ONE COMMENT? ToT**

* * *

><p>"I don't think I'm changing my name," Sano let his feet take him sideways through the trampled grass, his eyes intensely set on his father a few feet away from him and further explained, "I don't see why I need to do it anymore. Mia and you are the only thing I have, and everyone knows my name already…"<p>

"Do it for Mia then, Sano," Hoto mirrored his son's steps, his eyes waiting for any sign that he'd make the move first, as he always did. He tilted his chin to the side, adding to his earlier statement,"It's to protect her, if not yourself. You'll make a lot of enemies as an assassin, and trust me, I know this. It's a well kept secret but people have their ways of finding out about us. It's best to take every precaution you can against them hurting everything you love. If you change your name, the enemies you'll make won't be able to use Mia against you."

"Stop talking like she's a nuisance or some kind of weakness!" Sano jumped forward, a slightly crossed expression on his face, as he swung a punch towards him. The Captain easily dodged the emotion-propelled attack and stepped in behind Sano, grabbing a hold of his arm and turning it over against his back. Sano let out a little cry of pain before Hoto loosened it, but not enough to let him get free.

"Look," Hoto put his free hand out and toward Itgu, who was watching and supposed to be quietly observing and learning for his own future reference, having already had his turn to spar with the older assassin. Sano glanced over at him as Hoto continued, "I see why he doesn't have to change his name. It wouldn't bother anybody but himself. But you, Sano, you have someone you need to protect. Just think up a name. It doesn't even matter what it is. What did you want to always be called?"

"Sano."

"Now don't be difficult, Sano," Hoto released him with a light push forward. Sano stumbled, quickly caught his balance again, and turned to look at his father who exasperatedly said, "Look, it's for Mia."

"Cero already knows my real name," Sano growled and patted the front of his sweaty shirt free from any dust, "And your real name for that matter. And I have a distinct feeling he's more of my enemy than anyone, so it doesn't matter."

"Fine, if that's what you want," Hoto threw his hands up, his roughened voice rising, "If Mia ever get's attacked then-"

"I'll protect her. She won't have to worry." Sano sniffed, "And besides, if people have ways of finding out about the secret of assassins, they'll find out about my name if they really wanted to. I'll only have to be careful, just like with the secret of assassins, right?"

"Okay, if you think you can really hide it," Hoto shook his head before waving a dismissing hand toward him. Sano nodded, let out a breath, and promptly let his rear fall into the crushed grass, exhausted.

"Time?" Harlan asked Itgu, who looked down at the ticking pocket watch that he had handed him at the beginning and noted-

"Nearly ten minutes, sir…"

Hoto made a sort of grunting noise, something sounding surprised, before leaning his hands into his back to pop the lower portion of his spine. When it cracked satisfactorily, he sighed and plopped himself beside his son.

"Must be losing my touch." He said dryly, "Can't even take down my own apprentice in less then ten minutes…should be more like ten seconds…"

Over the hill, with identical half-lidded glances, the Trenraka males took note of Jac running at them, beaming with happiness, and Bask following close behind.

"Sano!" Jac came to a screeching halt, "You'll never believe it!"

"What?"

"Cero is giving the apprentices time off before the big competition tomorrow night," Jac smiled wider before breathlessly exclaiming, "So we don't get too tired or whatever. But a real break, Sano, isn't that great?"

"Damnit!" Hoto punched the ground before creakily standing up, his eyes moving towards Bask to verify the exclamation. Bask's curious head-tilt was a truthful enough answer as any. Harlan turned, paced a little under the eyes of the apprentices, before turning on his heel again to face them and started to dig around in his front pouch for a cigarette, asking no one in particular "What is with that man and messing up everything I try to do to help my son?"

"It's okay," Sano held up his palms in a pacifist manner, and trying to hide his relief for a break dancing behind his face, "I mean, I won't die will I?"

"I can't guarantee that," Hoto frowned down at him before distantly looking off, his fingers bringing a brown paper end to his lips, "I never expected any of my son's to die but look, you are my only one left. _And _you are in more of a position to die than any of them. Even Yagi- and he was crushed by Sin!"

"I wouldn't say it is so hopeless," Bask flicked up his glasses and grinned, "After all Hoto, what can you teach this boy in 27 hours that you haven't taught him already? Have faith in your boy. Kotone would."

Hoto stared angrily at the half breed, obviously contemplating to strike him or not. In the end, the last two words got him and the gunner decided against it. He sighed a raspy breath and looked at his last, and currently hopeful-eyed, son.

"Fine," Hoto waved him off, "You can go do whatever you want. Just be back here by tomorrow before noon or I'll-"

"Right!" Sano bolted and Itgu quickly followed after him. With pleading eyes, and patience in waiting for Bask to nod, Jac took off after them.

"Damn," Hoto rubbed the back of his sweating neck and let the bruises that his wily son had managed to sneak past his defenses drop his posture. "Ow, that kid…"

"If he can make you hurt than he'll be fine," Bask's shades slipped down his nose and he stared over the blackened glass, "If I recall, nobody thought you'd make it past the tests but here you are. One of the best assassins around with a son working to fill your shoes."

"That brings me no comfort," Hoto moved his hands down his back and pushed on the lower half of his spine, "But I can't help but feel a bit of pride. Is that wrong?"

"Hell no," Bask looked at the trampled grass from where the boys', plus Jac's, feet tore it up. Either that, or it was from when Hoto and Sano were sparring. Bask gave it no additional thought and maneuvered his green pupils to look at the Captain once more, his thoughts whispered through his cracked grin, "I can't help but wonder how the fatherly assassin really feels?"

"What do you mean?" Hoto dug into his pouch again and brought out a lighter, flicking it automatically and mechanically to bring it to the white end of the stick. Puffing on the toxic fumes, he hummed, "Hmm?"

"Well, you are proud of your son," Bask's thin bony fingers tensed at his sides, "That's apparent. But what of? Are you proud that he's becoming just like...you?"

Hoto blinked slowly, before looking down and sighing again, as was becoming a detested habit of his lately, "He'll never want to be like me."

"And that makes you sad?" Bask's pale eyebrow raised.

Hoto smirked, sniffing and snorting at himself, "What makes me sad is the possibility he'll succeed, and despite himself, make all my mistakes..."

* * *

><p>"Uno!" Sano approached his more chunky friend while the other's trailed behind him, "Did you know about the day off or are you just spending it sitting in the bunk house on purpose?"<p>

"I's can't think up a name for myself," Uno looked at the concrete ground and wiggled his toes though his socks, "I's been at it all morning's after training with Nanbu. I's don' know what I's should be called."

"Uno works," Sano rolled his eyes, "Really, everyone who knows you already knows your name. Enemy and friend alike, why bother changing it?"

"But-"

"Hoto already said I can keep my name," Sano leaned back and comfortably crossed his arms under his lean chest, "Why don't you do that same?"

"Alright," Uno sat up and smashed his feet into his boots, "So's what's are we's supposed to do today anyways?"

Jac smiled devilishly as the bunk house door slammed shut with a metallic clang. Looking around, Jac put a hand to her mouth and whispered, "You know those other apprentices? We're going to spy on them."

"Sounds-" Uno frowned suddenly, his tone lowering, "Bad."

"It's going to be fun," Sano coaxed, and put his hands on his thin hips to lean forward, "Don't be such a goody boy, Uno. Let's go."

Uno seemed to think deeply before shaking his head, "I's really don' think we's should be doing that. What if they's beats us up?"

"We'll beat them up," Itgu held up his arm and flexed it, "We're strong enough."

"I don't know…"

"Come on Uno!" Jac joined beside Sano and put her hands together in a begging fashion, "Even Groto is going to do it!"

"Uh-uh," Groto shook his ghost-pale face, and his bright green eyes widened, "I only said that I'd go see what they're doing. I didn't say that I'd get in a fight with them."

"Well," Sano looked up at the tin roof, "I don't plan on fighting them this early either. I mean, what's the point of that? We'll fight them anyways tomorrow. But spying can be beneficial to us. Find some weaknesses."

Uno perked up and his eyes widened a bit, "Weaknesses?"

Working with it, Sano nodded, "It will make our chances of survival increase and the more we learn about them, the more we are likely to defeat them."

"So's-" Uno's round eyes moved to the floor, thinking hard, "If we's spy on them, we might not die?"

"You want to live right?" Sano leaned forward and with his words sealed the deal.

The bubbly face lifted and so did the thick shoulders, "Let's go!"

"Right on!" Itgu pumped his fist in the air and they all took off speeding from the bunk house in a herd of rambunctious teenagers out to cause trouble.

Groto, the first out, stopped abruptly and like dominoes the rest of the boys crashed into his back and toppled into each other. With a fearful gaze, Groto gulped in dust from the fall and they blinked up at the six forms leaning over them.

A crooked and sickly face leaned over Groto, "Oh? _You _spy on _us_?"

"Maske," Uno sputtered before the face adjusted to leer at him with those acidic eyes instead.

"Yeah, Tubby?" Maske hissed through his teeth and leaned back with a cackle, "Oh look at his face! I think I may have hurt his feelings!"

Uno wiped under his nose, which was somewhat bleeding from the fall, and then looked at Sano from the corner of his eyes. Sano saw him and added a bit of sympathy in his gaze before someone's foot stomped flat onto his hands and made him look back forward with a cry.

"HEY!" Jac spat after Borne's foot came off of the back of Sano's hand. Sano, teeth gritted and brows knitted, drew his hand to him and rubbed at the offending footprint marking his skin.

"What?" Borne smiled and when Jac, too enraged, said nothing he looked back down at the boy who rubbed his hand still and heatedly glared. "Sano, I think I said I'd inform you why my name is Borne."

"And I _know _I informed you that I don't give a rat's ass," Sano frowned down his reddening skin and began to pick himself up when a pain shot down his neck and his face hit the dirt.

Borne ground his foot into the base of his spine and Sano spat out the saliva-wetted dirt that caught into his mouth with acute disgust. His ugly smile stretching, Borne leaned down again, "Ever wish you never were born at all, Trenraka?"

"What the Hell are you talking about?" Sano jerked his head but it stayed planted firmly to the ground, Borne's foot not heeding to his physical protests of being pressed hard to the stony soil. Sano shouted, anger behind his tightly pinched eyes, "Get offa me, you lout!"

"Ever think you were born just perfect?" Borne lifted his foot and Sano lifted himself again only to be kicked in the cheek bone and sent into Uno, where his chin hit the pavement outside the bunk house and blood exploded from his skin.

Sano looked around quickly to see Groto pulled up by his shirt collar by Riot, and though Groto was slightly taller than him, the way Groto cowered his feet slid against the stone and his toes barely skimmed the walkway. Jac wrestled against Simion's dark arms and looked ready to gag when he leaned into her face and commented on how cute 'he' was.

Eno blinked and held Itgu by the back of his shirt collar calmly as Kilio pushed his round owl-like glasses up the bridge of his nose with his middle finger.

"Gah!" Sano felt Borne's foot crash into his rib cage and he fell down into the stone with a thud.

"Answer me, Trenraka," Borne twisted his neck before leaning over Sano, who defiantly was spitting from the corner of his mouth, the slight taste of iron coating his tongue. Borne did not seem to care that Sano didn't have any interest in what he was saying as he continued, "I bet you think you're so special Trenraka, don't you? Just because you're father is a Captain!"

"What do you know, you imbecilic idiot?" Sano wiped at his bloodied chin and hissed, catching his shoulders from wincing too much, "My life is so much harder because of that fact alone! I don't need to depend on him to make me who I am!"

"And who are you, Sano Trenraka?" Borne tilted his head the other way, "Man, so far you've just looked like a weak brat."

"The same goes for you!" Sano hissed, "You're just a brat that doesn't think anyone else in this world has it harder than you, don't you?"

Sano smiled in sweet victory. He had a excellent talent for deduction, mostly guessing right in things just by sheer luck also, and this boy wasn't too hard to understand. And from Borne's hideous tight-lipped face he was making down at him, scornful and hateful, it was safe to say he was right the money in his guess.

Borne let out a horrible screech and swung his leg back with the intention to kick Sano again with all his might.

Uno grabbed Borne's kick and wrapped his thick arms around both of the apprentice's legs. Borne jerked at his limbs, failing to release them from what he thought was a surprisingly strong grip, but to Uno's peers was expected, and a smirking Sano enraged Borne more as the latter couldn't get to him.

Uno's face jerked to the side after a boot heel crashed into his eye. He gripped the legs harder, determined not to let go, and tried to force open his sore eye, only to find it stinging from particles kicked up by the boot itself. Looking up with his other eye, and still trying to open his painful side meanwhile, Uno saw a sickeningly pale face leaning over him.

Maske frowned and with a raspy hiss asked, "Why are you helping him?"

"Who do youse mean?" Uno held on tighter and closed the hurting eye entirely. Maske's yellowy-green eyes jerked sideways and Uno incredulously scrunched up his face, "Whut-Sano? Cuz' he's my friend!"

"Oh, how sweet," Kilio took a clean and swift step closer before leaning down over him also, "You're friend? Well, for you information, we're all enemies here."

"Why are you doing this!?" Groto coughed afterward when Riot yanked his collar into his Adam's apple.

With a shaking breath, Groto desperately looked at the different faces, "W-what did we do?"

"You're our enemy," Kilio flicked out his index finger while the rest of his fingers curled into his upward facing palm, "Enemies are eliminated. Simple truth. You became our enemies as soon as you were introduced to us and our targets were realized. Didn't Cero tell your commanders that everything goes? That means that there is no starting time to when we may attack you."

Sano groaned, "Why is it always 'everything goes' with these people?"

"Well that doesn't matter," Jac shouted out at high pitched scream, "You are all cheating son's of bitches!" Jac kicked at Simion's hard stomach, causing no real damage, "Let me go and I'll kick all your asses with one arm behind my back and one eye closed!"

"Is that right?" Borne freed one of his legs from Uno's grasp and stomped on Sano's leg, the one that not too terribly long ago was chewed on by a Sin Spawn. With a cry, Sano curled his body towards it and gripped Borne's foot with pressing fingers.

"Get off." Sano slowly snarled with clenched teeth, trying in vain to hide the pain it caused. Uno winced for him, before reaching out and tried to pry the grinding foot off of his friend, rising to stand up all the while, before Maske swung out with his own leg and kicked the bigger boy straight in the head. Uno crumbled, before moving again to help. Sano still couldn't manage to make Borne stop crushing his leg, and his other one was pinned awkwardly underneath the other. It it wasn't, Sano was sure he'd of kicked Borne in the 'boys' twice over.

Maske's laugh seemed to force a pause in the struggle, and he chuckled with his words, "Ah, Borne, I think they want you to remove your foot. It looks like your really hurting him. We don't want that...yet."

"Oh, right," Borne looked around, checking his surroundings, before meeting his comrade's gaze, "I don't want to hurt him too bad now, right?" Despite what he said he pressed and twisted his foot down with a grind.

"Not in front of the bunk house where everyone will hear, assassin's and soldiers alike, anywyas" Kilio pushed up his glasses and shook his lean face at his peer after Sano let out a guttural yelp. Kilio smiled again though, "I wonder if we just lock them in there though, will they scream like little girls?"

"Best get out of wandering eyes way no matter what," Simion hoisted Jac over his shoulder and with a huge foot, kicked in the metal door of the bunk house, "Come on."

Riot dragged Groto by his hair, which had grown to downy clumps, and followed after. Uno, sensing danger for them, got up and went to tackle the boy's back.

"Oh no you don't," Maske smiled when Eno grabbed him by the back of his neck before wrapping his arm around his throat. Itgu wiggled in protest against Maske's claw like hands and felt Maske's nails dig into his shoulder.

"Be still," Maske warned Itgu and motioned for Eno to go first with Uno in tow. Uno was pulled by his neck, his breathing restricted to choking gasps by Eno, until his feet nearly tripped against the door jamb. Eno jerked him into the bunk house where Maske fought with Itgu for a while before subduing him in a similar fashion as Eno had with Uno and forced him in.

Sano glared under the foot planted under his chin. He breathed though hissing and hard shallow breaths and his hands couldn't push Borne's foot off of his throat. His eyes burned with hatred, and he dared the other to release him. Borne smirked and experimentally leaned a little bit more into his leg, causing Sano's breath to turn into a painful long wheeze.

"Oh stop it," Kilio yawned, as if bored of kicking little kids around already though he had yet to lay a hand on them. Borne leaned down to pull Sano from under his foot by his ponytail with the victorious smile on his lips now. Sano was lifted to his feet and immediately, now out of the disadvantage of being on the ground, began to fight the slightly shorter one.

Sano pulled his arm forward before drawing it swiftly back to pop Borne right in his mouth with his elbow. Borne gasped, but used the grip he still had on Sano's hair to jerk him backward closer to him and kicked Sano's lower back hard. Sano fell halfway to the ground again, before a twist of his hair turned him. He was again lifted, only this time a knee came to meet his solar plexus. Sano flinched as it rattled his body with a dull pain, and he gave up trying to breathe the first few seconds as no breath came.

Sano lifted his hand and with less strength than he thought he still had from the blow gripped Borne's arm.

Borne smiled, "Weakling."

Kilio joined the boy by his side, "Hmm, best take him in, Borne. I think I hear soldiers coming."

He felt his feet drag against the gravely dirt, before he was jerked back onto the concrete and was continued to be pulled by his head and by a firm hand on his shoulder into the bunk house.

He searched quickly for anyone nearby and found nothing, not hearing the imaginary footsteps that Kilio had 'heard' to pressure his peer into stopping his messing around.

Sano felt something rough escape his throat without quite realizing he was calling for someone, "Dad!"

"What a baby," Kilio closed the door with a cold heartless clang before Sano was thrown into a pile with the rest of the boys.

Immediately Sano was surrounded by a mix of noise. Fearful mumbling from Groto and angry swears from Jac and Itgu. His own returning breathing was loud and harsh and Uno hollered over them all after Sano landed into the concrete floor.

"What are youse going to do, huh?" His voice was strong but the intimidating factor of it was greatly undermined by the fact that one of his eyes quivered behind the thin layer of water, red with irritation.

The opposing apprentices had their full attention to him as he grumbled loudly, "Youse can't-!"

"We can't what?" Maske crossed his thin white arms over his torso and laughed into Uno's face, "Hurt you? Of course we can! No one would know it was us except you, and you couldn't prove it if you tried!"

"Y-yes we could!" Itgu's voice faltered but he set his face up with determination, "O-our instructors will believe us and you'd have so many witnesses against you!" Itgu looked at his peers, "We'll all see what you do today."

"Yeah…see," Simion shrugged slightly and leaned down toward Itgu, his weight focused on his bent knees, "They're a bunch of idiots. So we're not too afraid of them. And by the way, you have more witnesses saying we didn't."

Sano scowled at them, a fierce hate drowning all fear, "Oh yeah, Who?"

"You guys saw me walking near the west side of the base didn't you?" Simion looked at his own apprenticing peers, who nodded and grunted with sinister smiles. Simion, pleased, turned to look at Sano, "Oh, and we already have it to where our Masters will say we've been with them the whole time. They know what we're doing too so don't go whining to them."

"My father will kill you if you ever-" Sano gritted his teeth and felt a quick and sharp pain in his neck again. His bleeding chin cracked against the metal frame of the bed and his teeth rattled against each other. The shock shot through his whole face and he clutched his jaw and tears started to form in his eyes as his body instinctively curled.

Borne lowered his leg slowly, satisfied that Sano unexpectedly flew a lot farther than he thought he would. Simion peered over at Sano's shaking form, putting a deeply tanned hand to his ears.

"Do what now? He wouldn't dare," Simion grabbed Sano's hair and jerked him off the floor. His peers yelled his name and hurried to assist him, only to be stopped my punches to the noses, backs, and Groto cried in pain when Borne kicked his knee cap.

Simion shook Sano's head by violently yanking his hand which gripped his hair, "Your father isn't something to be proud of. He's a talent-less hack, lazy, and a screw-up. As far as Captains go, he's a worthless example of one."

"You're wrong," Sano felt is scalp scream when Simion completely lifted him up by it, "Ah!"

"Am I? You're father wouldn't dare attack us unless he had solid proof to make his action justified," Simion grinned wide, "Which he won't find unless you're alive to tell him."

"You are going to kill us?" Groto swallowed down fear and cries as a chill ran through his blood.

"As long as you cooperate, a beating minimal," Kilio looked at all their wide eyes, "What? Aren't you aware of your situation? We're trained killers, and we have you cornered, outnumbered and alone. We can do whatever we want to you and make you do whatever."

Kilio noticed the fearful change in even the more confident students, "Oh, you all want to know what we want you to do, don't you?"

"You won't get away with this!" Jac struggled against Riot's hold, which the other had swiftly applied when Jac lunged forward, "Bask will find a mistake! He won't let you-"

"What are you talking about? The half-breed that got the shit beat outta him by seven _mere_ monks in Kilika?" Borne smiled, and sarcastically rubbed his arms and shook his voice, "Oh, yeah, we're so afraid of him."

"You don't know him!" Jac screamed, tears forming in the corner of her eyes, "Don't you underestimate him!"

"If seven monks can kick his ass," Borne looked around, "Then six assassins just ought to about kill him, right?"

"Shut up!" Sano yelled at them, rage spilling out and roughening his voice, as the first tears fell from Jac's eyes, "Doltish imbeciles have no right to talk down our instructors, so just shut up!"

"Someone's feeling brave," Simion shook his head again, Sano gritting his teeth hatefully, before letting his feet finally rest on the floor again, his scalp burning with the pull it had endured for that long, "Maybe we should beat this one until he's paralyzed while the other's watch."

His comrades gasped and Sano's breath caught in his throat, "Y-you don't scare me!"

"I wonder what his father would do to us if that were to happen," Kilio tapped his fingers on his chin, "He _is _a Captain. He might try and get us kicked out of Bevelle or killed."

"Nah," Simion assured, a lazy wave of his hand dismissing the thought, "That guy didn't seem to care much about his other sons' death. I doubt this one would be much different."

Eno looked up and spoke for the first time, his tone surprisingly flat, "What do you mean?"

"Well," Simion twisted his fingers in Sano's hair to turn his face to look up at them, "My master told me that Hoto had two more sons and he didn't care when they died. He even has a daughter that he never sees. I doubt if we beat up this one son that he'd be too mad."

"Oh?" Kilio smiled, "That's good news for us, isn't it?"

"Yeah more or less," Simion laughed and looked from Kilio back at Sano's face before his smiled dropped, "Whoa, I think he's crying."

He felt his hot tears on his face and he let them gather in his pressed eyelids. His head was splitting in a massive headache and all these morons did was talk. Sano growled, "Shut up!"

"Oh, he _is_ crying," Kilio put a whole fist under his chin and leaned over Simion's shoulder. "What a freaking woman!"

"Maybe he is a woman," Simion let his mouth open into a large sharp grin. His thick hand reached out and rubbed at Sano's flat chest , purring, "Or a girlie anyway. His face sure is pretty enough. Maybe he's a girl in disguise?"

Sano raised his head as soon as Simion loosened his grip enough to laugh boisterously, proclaiming loudly that he was the most girly boy he had ever seen in his life, and with his attention turned away from him Sano lifted his sharp knee and purposefully fell forward, into the softest target that Simion didn't guard closely.

Cupping his jewels and releasing the handful of Sano's ponytail, Simion growled, "You son of a bitch!"

His thick arm violently swung through the air, and before Sano could duck, it sent him sprawling back to the concrete floor. But the embarrassment was already done, and Sano's peers laughed heartily.

"Oh shut up!" Simion spat and then lifted his fist into the air, ready to strike Sano across the face with his knuckles for continuing to snicker in his nasally voice.

Eno frowned, and sharply cut through before he completed the action, "Enough of this. Whatever we're going to do Simion, we might as well do it before anyone comes to stop us."

"Right," Simion nodded and picked Sano up again by his collar and the back of his pants, only to slam him whole-bodily back into the floor. Jamming his knee into the back of his shoulder blades, his weight making it hard to breathe for Sano, the older apprentice then loudly announced, "Alright, listen up twerps. I'll let one of you boys choose. Go on and nominate someone."

Groto looked around and then realized that Simion was looking at him specifically, "M-me?"

"Who do you think would be responsible enough to make a big decision for all of you?" Simion dug his planted knee harder, making Sano wheeze harshly for air. Groto whimpered and then stuttered, the pressure pushing on him, "Uh-uh."

"I'll do it," Uno spoke from under Maske's looming shadow and went to stand, only to be kicked back down. Rubbing his knee, Maske's earlier target, he steadied his voice and shoulders, "I's said I's will do it!"

"Okay…" Simion drew out, doubtful sounding, with half lidded eyes, "Any objections?"

As his eyes moved from one face to the other, he found that none of them opened their mouths, holding their lips in grim restraint. They were speechless. With a new smile, Simion laughed, "Alright then, Mydo."

Uno was frowning and glaring hard into the dark face. His voice was low as he nearly whispered, "Yeah?"

"You have three choices," Simion held up three digits for show, "You're not going to like any of them but I'm nice enough to give you a choice."

Uno gulped lightly in his throat and set his less hurting eye bravely on the ruddy brown hues, "Alright, whut?"

"One. You can let him take all your beatings for all five of you," Simion ground his knee into Sano's back for emphasis as to who he was talking about, "Or two, you can split it between you and him."

Uno quivered but he kept his voice level, "An' whut's the third choice!?"

"You all can take a trip to the deep freezer in the back of the mess hall after we beat you guys good," Simion laughed at them when they gasped, "And hope that someone will find you before morning."

"That's not fair!" Groto's voice cracked as it raised up to a high-pitch, "Why does Sano have to be kicked around so much!? And we'll die before anyone would find us!"

"Too bad," Borne spat, "You don't get a say anyways. The traitor boy gets to choose."

"Traitor? What did Uno ever do to you!" Jac felt Riot's grip tighten on her arms, as she had angrily tried to rise sometime before, and she looked at her pain before she looked up to see Borne in her face.

"He was ever born at all," Borne pulled up a hand and waved it obscurely through the air, "You see, anyone that was born and got in my way is my enemy. You were born, went through life, and ended up my enemy, all of you. But it all started when you guys were born. If you haven't ever been born, than this complication wouldn't have existed. As for traitor-boy, despite what Captain Nanbu said of him not being related to Mydo the Mourner, we _know _he's in the same pool of blood of that murderous crusader and his treacherous wife."

"Son of a-" Jac gulped as Riot's hand reached under her chin and lift it up from behind.

"Would you like to join them?" Riot pressed on one side of Jac's neck to move her attention over to Uno and Sano, "Or do you want to freeze instead?"

"I don't want to die," She choked and felt Riot tighten his hand around her neck.

"Then stop the insults," He warned.

"Choose!" Simion screeched at Uno and he shook, his teeth gritted tightly in his plump lips, "Do it or I'll choose for you!"

"G-give me ah minute!" Uno struggled to control his breathing, keeping his gaze level, and not looking at Sano's face pressed into the floor. He was so angry, but fear also weaved through his viens, both emotions muddling his thoughts, " Jus' a minute."

Maske bobbed his head, mocking him, "Tick tock tick tock tick-"

No one would find them until morning or late that night, and that's just hoping that they were lucky, if they went into that freezer. And it was incredibly cold in there, freezing all sorts of meat hanging on hooks into rock-hard thick pieces of whole skinned animals in unfortunately just a matter of a few hours. But, he couldn't just let Sano take all their beatings. If he could free himself- but none of them had much luck so far. But, if they could get help soon-

"I'll count to three," Simion smiled, "One. Two. Thr-"

"I's choose number two!"

As soon as his words were said he was pushed to the ground and his head smacked into the corner of the metal bed frame. His forehead bled and he tried to get up and move but his head reeled and he was overcome with dizziness. Flopping his head down to try again, he heard Jac, Itgu, and Groto scream, yell, and howl as the opposing apprentices took them down into the office.

"Im's sorry," Uno looked at Sano from the floor, his head bleeding and seeping into his good eye. In response, Sano frowned toward the floor, his breath returning, and muttered, "It's not your fault, moron."

They peered from their spots on the floor through the still swinging doors and caught the quick flash of Jac, Itgu, and Groto being tied together by rope to the pipe that ran over the couch against the wall in the office. Simion still weighed down Sano's back, though not so much pressure remained on his lungs, and Uno still couldn't get his head to lift an inch of the ground.

After a few more tries, Uno lurched forward and with a blood-curdling cry tackled Simion's torso. Blood blinded his eye, while pain still kept the other closed, and he shook his head to try and clear it. He felt his skin tear on his chest and he gripped his shirt in response, his vision still clouded and every part of his body sensing things slowly in a groggy manner, urging him to just sleep.

"UNO!"

Uno heard a crash, figuring it was him hitting one of the metal chests at the end of each bed, and then he raised his hand up to his blurring eyes to see red against his palm. It covered his fingers and dripped onto his face before he registered it was from his chest.

Simion leaned over him with the small folding pocket knife and then scoffed, "That was too easy."

"No!" Sano lifted himself to his fours, now that Simion was off of him, and hurtled himself towards the back of his knees and felt hot pain from his hand.

He gripped the blade Simion swung around tightly and pulled back with all his might. His blood slicked up the metal and his hand just slid off the edges with a line of dark liquid spurting from his palm. Simion lifted his knife, decided against using it again, and heavily kicked Sano back into the bed, scooting it against the concrete when his body crashed into it.

"Idiot," Simion threw the knife to Borne, who caught it with a wide smile, "Your turn."

Sano felt a sort of terror grip him and he looked around for anything that would help. The swinging doors were held open by Kilio and Maske, and down the hall the office door was wide open for the other's to watch. Jac and Itgu pulled against their restraints with no progress in releasing themselves. Borne got closer, the knife glistening in both of the victim's blood.

He looked over his at Kilio's and Maske's faces, both smiling, and urging with twitches of their heads for him to continue. He saw Riot smirk slightly, approvingly, before Borne finally looked down at Sano, his eyes somewhat pleading but angry still.

Sano felt the first slash against his shoulder. It was shallow, though stinging, and he held up his arms to defend himself from the next slashes, making his arms bleed in thin diagonal lines.

Out of the corner of his eyes he saw Simion laugh, and then his eyes drifted over to Eno. He was frowning, but his arms were crossed, and he actually looked bored. No one was going to help him.

"Dad!"

"Raaaaaaaaa-" Uno grabbed Borne's arms and held onto them tightly. Borne's turned around and lifted his knife, ready to stab the boy clinging to him in the face with the little blade.

"Borne," Eno's voice was calm and level, "You aren't supposed to kill them, remember? A beating. That was all."

Borne lowered the knife before throwing it aside. It clattered against the ground, where Eno leaned down to lightly scooped it up in his hand.

"I'll make you wish you were never born."

Uno gasped as he felt Borne punch the tender split on his head and push him to the ground. Maske let the door open with a door stop that he found kicked nearby on the ground, and then moved in to join Borne.

Sano tangled his arms around Borne's legs as memories flooded his head.

He remembered the smell of blood, the feel of real cold clammy death, and held back his urge to bend over and puke, which actually would probably aide more to that particular memory. He felt an invisible pressure push on him from all sides, constricting his breathing, and making it harder for him to see past the blackness that swirled in his head.

_We aren't winning. We can't win! I could stop Borne, probably, if I tried, but there' s still more of them! Stronger of them too. We're outnumbered, we can't fight them. They'll kill us before too long. It's just like Edmond, we should just stay still, still….Uno isn't holding still!_

He knew how cowardly he sounded, but the fear was deeply embedded into his head. He forgot all the things his father taught him in the past year and let go of Borne's legs to stand and grab his arms. If Borne stopped moving, Uno would stop fighting against him, and they might live. He blinked, the blackness still hiding most of the world from his vision.

Why couldn't he see straight? Sano blinked, and he thought he saw something become clearer, but before he could fully focus the rest of the darkness was obliterated by a bright light of pain and he bounced back away from Borne as Maske punched him square in the nose. The darkness didn't blind him anymore, whatever was clearer was gone, and the pressure was still making it hard for him to breath.

He felt down his sides and cringed, it hurt to even touch. Maske kicked him in the chest and he struck his head against another metal chest.

His brain pounded in his skull and Maske leaned back to kick him again. His ribcage felt like it was going to fall inward again and again as Maske's foot crashed down into it, but it didn't. He moved his arms to make the contact with his body minimal but Maske quickly moved to hit him square in his body every time Sano went to block it. After a while, he just fell to the floor limply and held still.

Uno fought Simion and Borne, the former with more pronounced muscles than he and the latter with a hot temper flaring, and he fell to the floor after Borne kicked his kneecap again. Simion's fist crashed into his soft body, but even then Uno didn't stop fighting back because he could still hear his friend groaning in pain.

Uno moved to tackle Maske from behind and was caught by Simion's fist to his face. Simion whistled to Maske to get his attention away from Sano, then nodded at Kilio, who still patiently waited his turn for fun. Borne, with a knowing smile plastered on his smug face, went to take Kilio's place at the door, flashing a smirk at the boys tied down the hall, with wide eyes and hateful faces, before opening it wider to let them see the whole scene.

Uno was thrown into Sano and they laid beside each other breathing heavily as the lean figure of Kilio got closer. Kilio reached behind him and drew out a black pistol.

Sano gulped as it was aimed at neither him nor Uno, but was pointed in their general direction and could shoot one or both of them if they so much as made a wrong move.

Uno blinked at the end of the gun, swallowing his blood in his throat, and horribly remembered what that dangerous little thing can do to a human head.

"Now," Kilio spoke with a cool and gentlemanly manner though something dark brushed behind his eyes,"We could kill you so easily right now, in fact, it would only benefit us."

There was a pause, and during it neither of the boys on the floor breathed even the lightest breath.

"So, give me one reason why I shouldn't?" Kilio was still aiming the gun at them.

"Huh-nn, uhm," Uno gripped his bleeding forehead, the world starting to swirl around him, "Wha-wait a minute! I-if we die, then-then-"

"Our deaths are no benefit to you!" Sano gritted his teeth as the gun's aim teetered closer to him, "Nn!"

"How is it not?" Kilio smiled, "If I kill you two, then the others will be too afraid to fight the rest of us. Think of it as...an example. And then the titles of assassins will officially be ours, and the competition so less steep. Not to mention this would be more than enough practice for our future."

"Y-you can't!" Sano glared but his chest fluttered and took a fearful leap, his heart jumping into his throat.

Eno spoke up just as Kilio's finger started to grow taunt, "We decided not to kill them remember? You said yourself, a beating if they cooperated. And they had done so."

"Oh, trying to spare them, Eno?" Kilio sneered before flicking up his glasses, "How sweet of you."

"You could kill them," Eno blinked slowly, unfazed and his voice mono-toned,"But then it would be obvious who did it and then what kind of assassin would you be? Before you answer, allow me, you wouldn't be. You'd create such a mess from that range and on top of that, your bullet would be proof enough for Captain Hoto and Captain Nanbu to have you, at the extremes, executed for killing not one but two apprentices. Cero wouldn't have a word against it either because it was your mistake."

Kilio lifted his hands in defeat, "Alright, we'll let them live."

He holstered his weapon somewhat moodily and then asked, annoyed, "So what do you suggest we do with them, oh perfect one?"

Eno seemed to ignore them as he stepped closer.

Sano felt light-headed, and he willed himself not to faint, but beside him, Uno hit the ground and blood from his thick head splattered on the concrete floor from the force of his landing.

Sano vision tilted and blurred before he found himself against the ground too, dimly, he saw Eno pick an unconscious or dead Uno by his legs, "Come on, it's enough. We might kill them if we're not careful..."

"Oh, you're no fun," Maske leaned over Sano and grabbed hold of his collar, pulling back his fist to strike him in the mouth again, which he did with his comment "They should be able to take more than that. Let's not kill them, but let's have more fun."

"Look at the one your holding," Eno pointed lazily to Sano, "He's pretty gone already. And this one is no better." He was referring to Uno, who was limp, unmoving, and his chest was still.

Maske dully smiled, his crooked and discolored teeth showed through his sickly purple lips, "Say, let's stick them in a closet at least."

"Fine." Eno made his way towards the closet at the end of the bunk house by the swinging door and opened the creaking metal, "Should they join them?" He gestured with his head at the office.

"Oh No. Let's take them to the mess hall and put them in the freezer anyways," Borne smiled and Sano vaguely heard Groto crying.

Sano opened his mouth to remind them of the deal that they and Uno had made but saw blood spill from his lips and pour onto the floor instead.

"Gross," Maske leaned away from him before pulling him toward the closet, "Man he sure is heavy for such a skinny dude."

"Drag him in here." Eno forcefully commanded and stepped back, out from the closet where Uno was neatly slumped in the corner. The knightly man held out his arms and coaxed his companion to drop the boy into his hands, "Come on."

"Here," Maske let Eno gently grab his shoulders and pull him into the closet, where he sat him up against the wall. Sano somewhat expected sympathy from the way Eno leaned him into the closet but got nothing as the metal door clanged shut and there was a familiar cold click.

Hot tears fell down his face and his legs were far more cramped then it had been years before. His rib cage screamed with more pain and he sobbed as he heard Jac scream and Groto's crying disappear outside. Itgu was the last one he heard, saying pointlessly, "You won't get awa!-", and then the outside door slammed and echoed.

He choked on salty liquid and as he squirmed, he knew he was going to die if they didn't come back to help.

_They won't come back. They won't come back. I'm going to die. _

He vaguely wondered if this is the pain Edmond felt before he slipped away during the night. He wondered if his father would lament over his broken body, and then Sano wondered if Uno's Captain and the White Mage woman would cry when they realized he was dead too...

"What are youse crying about?" Uno shifted greatly and Sano yelped, having really believed that he was gone.

"Shut up!" Sano felt his face burn, "We're stuck in here for Yevon knows how long and we're likely to die in here!"

"Why?" Uno lifted himself up higher against the wall, "They's only smacked us around a lot."

"And stabbed you!" Sano remembered Uno fall back with a squirt of red from his chest, Simion holding the knife in his hands.

"Oh yeah," Uno dragged the words out and Sano's mouth fell open.

With disbelief, Sano raised his voice again, "How do you forget a thing like that!"

"It don't hurt much," Uno rubbed his chest, "That knife was pretty thin, and it didn't go very far. I's mean, it was tiny. I don' think they's planned on killing us from the beginning. If they's did, they'd of used their real weapons, ya know?"

"You could've died moron!"

"But I didn't," Uno stated with a bit of pride in his voice, which was rather misplaced since both parties he felt pride for, himself and Sano, just got their senses beaten out of them. He sniffed and spat at the blood in his mouth that his newly missing teeth had let flow over his tongue, "Blegh, that tastes nasty."

"I thought you were dead!" Sano brought his knees up and winced, gripping his ribs, "Agh!"

"Don' be so over dramatic," Uno flapped his hand through the air and slapped his knee, "Im's fine. Youse are too, ain't cha?"

Sano felt a hot anger spread over his face, "Who asked you to worry about me?"

"It's what friends do," Uno nudged his arm and then winced when he noticed his knuckles were bloodied from protecting himself. He laughed and then closed his fist, "I bet it's gonna be obvious who I hit in the morning. Maske is gonna look like a Dalmatian with all the black bruises I's think I gave him."

"I don't want any friends," Sano let his head fall dead weight into his arms, which was crossed over his bony knees pulled into tightly to his body, "I don't want to lose them, so I don't want them."

"Hey's, youse ain't lost me," Uno bumped his shoulder into his, "We are still buddies, ya know?"

"I had a friend once and he died the same day," Sano stated flatly, hoping to settle the issue once and for all, then and there, in both himself and for Uno. "I don't want them. I keep trying, and it just doesn't work out. They're not worth having, like most things in this world. Everything dies or leaves you in the end."

Uno whispered solemnly, "I'm sorry."

After a length of time though, his voice rose to a loud pitch, "But, jus' lizzin' to youse! Ya sound like that Borne kid! Everybody dies…of course everybody dies! That don' mean youse can't be friends with anybody. Look, we's been friends all this time, why stop now? I's ain't dead! Get it through your's head that youse can't be alone, youse need a person to be your partner! Admit it!"

The quiet surrounded them as the last echo of Uno's words faded. Sano's legs started to cramp up after a while of bending them to his body. The light under the door started to darken and he sighed with pain in his chest, "I'll admit nothing to a dim-wit."

"Fine, but we's are still friends." Uno stated, but he sounded hopefully questioning just the same, before he added in a mumble, "I still want tah be friends with youse. If it makes youse feel better, I won't die, promise."

"You can't promise that," Sano shook his head in the dark, "You said it yourself, death comes to us all. You can't promise that you won't die because you will."

"Alright," Uno smiled into the shadows, "I's just won' die before youse do. I'll die after ya."

"Why do I have to be the one to die first?" Sano's voice raised to a noticeable loud disturbance in the silence of the abandoned bunk house.

Uno snorted back his laugh before asking again, "So's we's are friends, ain't we?"

The brief paused did not last long as a nasally and annoyed tone finally caved in, "Oh fine! Sure," Sano rubbed his ribs, tired of arguing with the dense idiot, "Even though it isn't worth it. I'll call you a friend."

"Why do youse always gotta be like that?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know," Uno looked around the dimming light, starting to see nothing in the closet at all, "Youse are always like, 'sure, sure we're friends' then when something bad happens youse are like 'I don't want any friends'. I's don't get's it. Youse know I lost my best friend too. Youse ain't the only one."

"Oh really?" Sano looked in the direction of his voice, "Tell me exactly what happened. And don't think about it. If it's a lie, I won't give you time to come up with a good story. I know you're too slow to be a good liar."

"I's ain't slow and I's ain't a liar! Her name was Tillie. She was this little girl I knew when I's lived with my grandpa Mydo. She had white hair, well, not really I guess but it was a really really light yellow, ya know? And green eyes tha'd made me's thinks of summer grass. She had a brother named Ji and he and I's gots in lots of fights. She said she liked me one day and I really liked her so we became sweet together. A'course, that's the same day my grandparents died an' we's ran together an' I's left her in the-," Uno stopped before taking a soft breath, "Well, she isn't around no more."

"What happened to her?" Sano whispered, "Your girlfriend?"

"We's weren't girlfriend and boyfriend we's were-uh, sweethearts I guess," Uno shrugged, "She died."

"How?"

"I's don' wanna talk about it," Uno jutted out his bottom lip, "I never got strong 'nuff to pick that up."

"Erm," Sano shifted and then tilted his head, "Pick what up now?"

"Oh!" Uno wiped blood off of his hands by rubbing them together, "I met Miz Pino, then, after all that happened. After my grandparents died I wasn't really feeling good about it…ya know. She tol' me that I shouldn't pick something up until I'm strong enough to lift it by myself. So I waited and eventually the hurt didn't feel too bad, but Tillie still kinda hurts in my chest a little."

"Are you sure that isn't because you recently got stabbed," Sano cynically reminded him.

"Oh, right," Uno looked down in the darkness, like he really did forget. After a beat, he looked up, "So's what happened to your friend huh?"

"He died too, in a closet, after we got beaten," Sano spoke quickly, breaking up his sentence because it wasn't pleasant to say it at all.

"Oh," That was enough for Uno, "I's see's why youse were crying earlier. Don' youse worry, I'm still here!"

"Moron, I wasn't crying!"


	16. Revenge is Not So Sweet

**By Stormytitan**

**A/N:Ahhh...this story...after all the massive editing, I don't think it's shaping up to be such a piece of crap as I first thought. Yay.  
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* * *

><p>"Help!" Groto tried to jump away from Maske's bloodied hands as he pushed him towards the open large freezer-like room in the back of the mess hall. His attempt did little good as he was still ushered along towards the menacing doors that Borne went ahead to open up. White tendrils and clouds of icy particles flowed out of the belching mouth of the freezer, and Groto shouted louder, "HELP!"<p>

"Shut up!" Simion smacked him across his chin and pushed him into the icy back first, his legs and ribs sliding over the iced ground. Itgu was thrown into the door, a string of profanity flying from his mouth, before falling into the freezer on top of a shuffling Groto. Jac protested being thrown in next by lifting her legs and sticking them on either side of the door.

"Murderers!" She screamed at the top of her lungs and Eno winced as the sound so close to his head left his ears ringing.

Eno pushed, coaxing her in polite in speech but forceful in manner, "Please don't be difficult…"

"What the Hell is going on in here?" Bask opened the swinging door to the kitchen and quickly drifted over the faces, before landing on Jac's tear streaked one, "Put h-im down."

Eno loosened up before tensing, "I will not."

"Do it now," Bask reached for the pistol on his side, "Or I will be forced to act."

"What are you going to do?" Borne smiled, "You can't do shit to us!"

Bask pulled out the Alchemy pistol and pressed the barrel up against Borne's forehead, who now sucked in his breath. Bask looked around quickly before pressing the end harder into the boy's head, "We seem to missing apprentices, now aren't we boys? Where is Trenraka and Mydo?"

"I don't know," Borne held up his hands in unarmed surrender, but smiled sharply none the less, "Maybe they're making out in a closet?"

"You must think you're really funny," Bask slipped his thumb over the red marble in the chamber and pushed it into the gun, "Well, I have a sense of humor too. Go ahead and tell me another joke, I might laugh so hard that my finger pulls the trigger."

"You wouldn't shoot me," Borne smiled wide

Bask smiled wider, his Cheshire smile stretching over his pale lips, "Oh, and you wouldn't beat up my little apprentice and throw him into the freezer?"

Borne lost a bit of his smile, "What do you want, Alchemist?"

"Where is Uno and Sano?"

"In the closet, like I said," Borne pointed out the mess hall doors, "In the bunk house."

"This isn't a joke, is it?" Bask growled, his finger cocking the hammer, and pressed it harder into his forehead, "Well?"

"No, it is not," Eno spoke up and Bask refocused his aim on him instead.

"Why are they in there?" Bask spread his stance, ready to fire at any moment, "What did you do to them?"

Nanbu opened the door to the kitchen they were all standing in, his deep toned voice asking, "Bask, what the hell can't you understand about grabbing a freaking bottle opene-wah? Hey!"

Hoto, to the other captain's shout, jumped into the room through the backwards swing of the door that Nanbu shoved out of his way in his quick entry. Cigarette dangly loosely from his mouth, he reeled back a little in surprise.

And then Hoto started yelling too, "Bask, what the Hell?"

"You aren't supposed to shoot the other apprentices, idiot!" Nanbu held out his beefy hand and wrapped it around the gun, tugging it away from the Alchemist before the latter could answer back.

"Ask them where Sano and Uno are," Bask, taking his opportunity to speak now, gestured with his green eyes peering over his glasses at the six assassin apprentices.

Hoto stiffened, as did Nanbu, "Why?"

Groto rushed from the freezer and sobbed quickly, "They killed Sano and Uno! They killed them!"

"What!" Nanbu roared and moved towards Eno, grabbing up his shirt and pressing his back into the open freezer door, "That better be a misunderstanding or I'll-!"

"It is," Eno put his hand on Nanbu's muscled forearm, his calm disposition did not falter even as the rage hurt his body from slamming into the freezer, "They are fine, a bit shaken perhaps, but fine in the closet in the bunk house. You best tend to them soon though."

"Eno!" Riot growled out his name but the knightly man shook his head slowly.

"We ran over a line that shouldn't have been even crossed cautiously."

"Hoto!" Nanbu turned to look at his partner to find him missing, "Hoto?"

"Predictable," Eno finally smiled.

* * *

><p>"Sano!" Hoto burst into the bunk house, the door slamming into the metal wall, "Sano, are you alright?"<p>

"Dad?" Sano lifted his face up from his forearms folded over his knees. A head ache was currently pounding in his skull, and the yelling made it no better. Uno had started to snore beside him, his rattling reassuring him that he was still alive and indeed wasn't leaving his friend behind, but annoying him as usual.

Hoto jerked at the knob, found it locked, then searched his pouch quickly for the extra set of keys. Pulling up a ring, his fingers quickly swept over them, dropped them once, then found the right one and slammed it into the key hole.

Sano couldn't remember a key clicking in a lock ever sounding nice.

"Sano!" Hoto stared wide eyed at the beaten, bloody, and dark bruised face that stared back. Uno snored with a cracked head and a thick line of blood running down the side of his face, a black eye decorating the other side. Sano clutched his ribs and lifted his free arm up in greeting.

"Ah, what took so you so long, Hoto?"

Hoto sighed in relief before falling to his knees, "Damn, that was a bit more than this old man could take."

Sano pulled himself up higher and winced, "Is everyone alright?"

"Fine, fine," Hoto shook his head and ran a hand through his hair, "Damn, Sano, don't get me wrong but I expected a lot worse."

"They caught me without my revolver," Sano sneered, "It wouldn't have happened otherwise."

"What about the things I've taught you?" Hoto knotted his fingers through his hair, "Hell, Sano we're were sparring hand-to-hand just this afternoon and you defended yourself right then! You did defended yourself, didn't you?"

"I tried but, I uh, forgot a lot," Sano looked down at his knees, "Sorry, sir."

Hoto leaned closer to his son, his voice lighter, "You forgot? How did you forget?"

"I was scared, alright?" Sano admitted, though he had to spit it out past his bruised pride.

Hoto shook his head, "Don't ever forget your training boy. I teach you this stuff for a reason!"

"It won't happen again. Consider it a painful lesson learned, " Sano winced again and jerked his head towards Uno, "He needs a White Mage tonight if we're still going to fight tomorrow."

"Fine," Hoto raggedly sighed, his heart finally going back to its lazy pace, "You better not forget about what I told you tomorrow, alright? Or it's a sound beating and extra exercises from me, got it?"

"Sure, sure," Sano frowned, "Because its's so easy…"

Uno snorted and shifted in his sleep and then settled slowly back.

"I have a few things to tell you," Hoto dimly smiled and picked up Sano by his arms, forcing him to his feet, "Try standing up, son."

"I can stand up on my own, let go," Sano moodily jerked his arm away, flinched, then straightened himself. "I'm fine."

Hoto tapped Uno on the top of his head and the boy grumbled, screwed his eyes shut more, before opening them and blinking, "Hey, they's opened the door, Sano."

"Wow," Hoto whistled through his teeth, "You have quite a shiner, Mydo."

He touched it with chubby fingers and smiled back, "Yeah, real pretty, ain't it?"

Nanbu walked into the bunk house with his hands shoved in his pockets, and as if he needed to explain his calm demeanor he was carrying he spoke right away, "I didn't hear any mournful cries on the wind so I figured that I could take my sweet time."

"Well, thank you for showing up within the hour," Hoto poked Uno to get up and he rose, slowly and achingly.

Nanbu eyebrows raised and bent a bit, "How you feeling, kid?"

"Fine," Uno lifted up his thumb, "They's couldn't hurt me one bit!"

Sano mumbled, "But they could stuff you into a closet while you were unconscious."

"That's not nice!" Uno jutted out his broken bottom lip.

Sano looked out of the corner of his eye, before smirking slightly, "What an idiot."

"What did youse say?"

* * *

><p>Sano looked at his face in the mirror hanging on the infirmary wall and instantly sneered at his reflection. His thin lean face was marked by greenish bruises, faded from the use of a potion, and he still sported a dim black eye and a distinct matching bruise on his other cheek. His chin was scabbed up, a fine split in his lip, and a white square of gauze doused in blue liquid was stuck off centered on his forehead, somewhat hidden under the greasy streaks of his bangs.<p>

"Alright, Sano, lift your shirt up now," Pino ordered firmly and rolled up her white puffy sleeves, "Let me see what they did."

He reached for the bump in his shirt before the ends slipped into his pant line and jerked it up. He lifted up the seams and Pino shook her head at the bruises, welts, and since Sano was so skinny, she could also see the clearly crooked ribs.

"I'll fix that," She spoke softly and reached out to touch the cracked ribs and bruises that spotted his torso. With warmth and some quietly whispered words, he was healed, and he lowered his shirt.

"And your poor face," Pino touched his cheek with the end of her fingers, apparently not approving of what the potion had done so far on it. A glow surrounded her hand and pain lifted free from his skin, "Alright. Better."

Sano peered back into the glass, his face looking pretty much the same except the bruises were now yellowish, the black eye faded to a purple smudge under one eye, and his lip was clear of any blood.

"That all will be gone in a couple of days," Pino patted his cheek reassuringly, catching him frowning at them, "Don't worry too much about it."

"I won't," Sano flinched away from the light touch, his pride hurting from being absolutely beaten and thrown into a closet yet again in his life._ Haven't I've gotten any stronger? _He thought bitterly and hoped she was wrong, that all the marks of the encounter would be gone before tomorrow night, so that when he faced those other apprentices again there wouldn't be any sign of what they had done to him.

She sighed from his retraction to her touch and practically floated away on her light feet to Uno's side, who was laying on the bed on the other side of Sano's, farthest from the wall and the mirror.

"Uno," Pino shook his shoulder as he snored loudly on the infirmary bed, his arms curled around the white pillow there, "Uno come on, you can't sleep in here. Honestly, you're such a pain to wake-"

"Heh," Uno opened one slightly swollen eye, "I'm awake."

"Go on," Pino pushed Uno up and sent them out of the infirmary, "Shall I walk with you in case those brutes come back?"

"What would you do if they did?" Sano shrugged, "We'll be fine, Miss Pino."

"Yeah!" Uno held up his thumb and smiled through his broken lip, "We'll be jus' fine!"

"If you say so," Pino laughed, her heart not in it, "Please be careful you two."

"Being careful is my specialty-OW!" Uno crashed into the door before Sano had a chance to open it. Muttering, 'moron' under his breath, the latter opened the door and Uno walked out, rubbing his hurting nose.

"Please be careful," Pino whispered to the sound of the closing door.

"Jeez!" Itgu rose from the edge of the sidewalk, hands fists at his sides, as soon as they stepped outside, "What a day this has been, huh?"

Sano frowned and swatted at a moth that was darting into the overhanging light that illuminated in a sickly green the two steps leading into the infirmary, "I suppose."

"Hey, don't look at me that way, Sano." Itgu held up his hands defensively, "I'm not here to make fun of you. Considering what happened, I'm not going to do that."

"Oh? Then what are you here for?" Sano shoved past him, not waiting for an answer or caring to hear whatever the boy had to say.

"Hey! I'm just gonna say that I hope you're feeling okay," Itgu grabbed his thin shoulder, "You are alright…right?"

"Just peachy," Sano shook the hands off of him. His voice was curt and his face was grumpy, "I mean, this made my day."

"Hey, hey," Itgu shifted uncomfortably, "I know I'm not always the nicest to you, but I was just worried if you were hurt too bad. You two kinda saved our asses, and well, while kinda brave you two and- You know this isn't easy for me to say! So can you just accept that?"

Uno smiled coyly, " Ah' cept whut?"

"You are alright, right Uno?" Itgu looked him up and down and found nothing obvious and tried to veer the conversation away.

"I'm fine!" Uno smiled broadened, "An' so is Sano! Don' youse worry!"

"Okay," Itgu nodded and then noticed Sano walking away, "Hey! Where are you going?"

"To bed," Sano gestured forward with his head, "I'm tired as hell."

"That don' sound too bad," Uno followed after him with his hands shoved deep into his pant's pockets, "I's think I'll join ya."

"What about you Itgu?" Sano slowed his pace for Uno to catch up to him, walking along side him, "Are you coming or not?"

Itgu smiled, knowing this was the way the straight face boy liked to accept apologies.

"Why not?" Itgu's shoulders shrugged in the light of the infirmary before he made a show of lifting his foot for his first step.

Not fifteen steps from the infirmary, arms wrapped around Sano's neck and surprised them all. Instinctively balling their fists, they were ready for any opposing apprentices back to finish the job only to find Jac around Sano.

"I'm so glad you're not hurt!" Jac sank her head into his chest, "I'm mean shit! I thought you were dead!"

"I'm fine," Sano felt his face warm up, the weight of a _girl_ pressing into him directly.

Itgu desperately tried not to frown at it, considering Jac was just hugging Sano because she thought he was going to die, but then found himself bitterly pointing out Uno was there too.

"I didn't forget that," Jac slowly let her arms fall from around Sano's shoulders and then lowered her tip-toes, the only way she could reach Sano's neck past the initial jump, and then met Uno with a smile, who was roughly the same height as she. She hugged his beefy shoulders too and he patted her shoulder blades in response.

"Okay," Jac released Uno a lot quicker than she had Sano. Clapping her hands, she smiled, "Who wants something to eat?"

"Fine," Sano caught movement off to the side and his senses became strangely alert, though it could've been anyone, not including the other apprentices.

They made their way back to the mess hall, avoiding looking at the freezer, to find that Jac had left Groto sitting at one of the tables. Smiling at him, Jac bravely stepped into the kitchen without any fear of the freezer in the back.

"What's going to happen guys?" Jac swung her head around the corner, "It's not going to bite us. Come on."

The boys stepped into the kitchen, still wary of the damned inanimate door, and followed Jac to the cabinets where she fished out crackers, bread, and a jar of peanut butter.

"You know what they call this stuff right?" Jac unscrewed the jar top with a quick flick of her wrist, "Comfort food. My mom used to give me peanut butter all the time, cause it was cheap, but I still think it's the greatest food in the world."

Sano stuck his finger in the jar as soon as it was opened and licked it off, "I know about the comfort food part but interesting thing about your mother."

"My mom put honey on my peanut butter sandwiches," Groto exclaimed happily and reached for the bread, "Too bad they don't have any here."

"Eh," Itgu shrugged and grabbed the crackers.

Uno opened several drawers to find a knife, then flinched as sounds outside met his ears. He shut off the light, being closest to the wall switch, and then the boys, hearing what he had heard waited, knowing they weren't supposed to be sneaking food so late.

They exploded in laughter when no sounds reached their eardrums for some time and Uno brought up the knife he had fumbled around for in the dark. The bread was wiped with the peanut butter and soon each had his (and one her) own piece. They sat on the tables in the mess hall, the hum of the freezer disturbing them in the kitchen, and munched on their prizes of the whole loaf and peanut butter jar.

Thinking aloud, Sano let some of his words slip from between his smacking lips, "I wonder what Borne would do then?"

"Huh?" Uno bit into the bread and swallowed it without chewing, facing the consequences and coughing before beating his chest to get it down.

"I was just thinking," Sano bit into the corner of his snack and turned his head, "If we just remembered what we were trained to do, then none of this would've happened."

They had thought of it too, and in unison answered, "Yeah."

"Hoto taught Itgu and myself everything there is too know about pressure points on a body, and frankly, we're not bad at sparring anymore." Sano chewed slowly, "Uno, you could've practically broke one of their legs if you wanted, and we all know that Groto knows a few black mage spells by now, no matter how weak and low-grade they may be. And Jac, you can fight better than all of us!"

"But we were a little bit-" Groto whispered, knowing it wasn't a particularly good excuse.

"Yes, but they weren't even using their training against us!" Sano pointed out their lack of technique, "They were just messing with us. And it was so easy for them."

"So what?" Itgu frowned down at the bread and sticky paste folded in it, "We can't go back in time and point that out to ourselves."

"No, but the next time we see them-" Jac smiled at the thought, "-we won't be so easy to take down."

Triumphantly standing on the table, sandwich over her head, Jac cried upwards into the ceiling, "Yeah! We won't be taken down at all. Just remember our training. We'll show them our masters are the _only_ masters! They'll eat their words!" Jac took a bite out of her sandwich, smacking her lips as her eyes sparkled with the thoughts of just dessert and revenge.

"They said-" Sano smiled, a bit evilly, and the slightly light from the moon outside met his small pupils, "-That anything goes didn't they?"

"Captain Nanbu taught me to be fair," Uno crossed his arms, having finished polishing off his last snack.

"Yes, we'll be fair," Sano assured, "And we will win. But only as fair as our masters have taught us to be."

"Makes sense," Itgu licked at the butter on his hands, "But you know, maybe we should think about the possibility we can't beat them and we'll get our asses handed to us again."

"Think about that possibility and it will come true," Sano lifted his head higher, "No, next time-next time, we'll stay calm and our training will not be forgotten."

"S-sound's g-g-good, S-sano," Groto swallowed his bite with difficulty, "B-but-"

"No buts!" Jac slapped Groto's back, "You'll be fine, Black Mage!"

"Oh yeah, "Groto looked down with a weak smile, "Sure."

Sano shook his head, "Let's go to sleep. I'm tired."

"Agreed," The others spoke dully in unison.

They cleaned up their mess, carefully putting everything back where it was meant to go, before opening the mess hall door cautiously to leave. Jac left first, checking if the coast was clear, then motioned for Groto to follow after her. Itgu followed Groto and Sano was about to step out when a hand clasped his shoulder.

"What do you want?" Sano looked over at Uno's shifting face.

"Uhm, youse know's a lot of words," Uno scratched the back of his head, rubbing the thick clumps of hair, "Uhyuh, well, uh, could youse help me think up a name?"

"What's wrong with yours?" Sano half lidded his eyes, "Really, I told you before it doesn't matter."

"It matters to me's," Uno said quickly, almost defensively, before he drew out a sigh at Sano's slanted brow. He flopped his arms at his sides, explaining with a groan, "Look, every time someone hears Mydo, they's are always..."

"I see," Sano cut in, his voice low, and allowed his shoulders to sink slightly. He had seen how that Rogo man acted after hearing Uno's name, and though Sano still didn't quite understand what was so important about Uno's grandfather, he added with a breathy huff, "Fine, I'll help you. What are friends for? As they say..."

"Great! And I wan' youse to know that I have your back too," Uno lifted up his thick thumb, "Alright buddy?"

Sano sighed, a smile on his lips, "Oh, alright, but I can take care of myself first so don't get in my way."

"Uh, okay," Uno walked out into the moon-lit yard, "Hmm, what should I's be called, then?"

"You could keep Uno and just change your last name, you know," Sano stuck his hands in his pockets and stepped out from the shadows of the building, making sure the doors locked behind him, "It would reach the same effect. I mean, it's only your last name that makes people judge you like they do, after all."

"Well," Uno lowered his eyes, "I's want my name to be...secret. All of it, ya know? I'm not ashamed of my name but I's don' wan' people thinking about my name too much. I's want's a name tha'd makes people know nothing about me, when I don't know nothing about them."

"Ever had a nickname?" Sano dug his hands deeper into his pockets and continued as Uno shook his head negatively, "What about a middle name?"

"People have middle names?" Uno's eyes widened in shock.

"Oh, good grief," Sano rolled his eyes, "Yes, yes, people have middle names."

"Do youse have a middle name?"

"Yes, I do," Sano leaned his head back to look up at the twinkling stars above before lowering it to the blue tinted dust, "It's Azrial."

"Azrial," Uno repeated it with pursed lips which broadened into a grin, "Tha'd sounds so cool!"

"My father gave me the rest of my name..." Sano recalled, "But my mother gave me my middle name."

"So's youse have that much from her, don't ya?" Uno smiled still, but Sano caught his breath. He slowly forced himself to relax, thinking deeply, and then smiled back.

"Yeah, I have that." Sano breathed in the night air dreamily, still remembering his mother, before he shot his head up toward the sky with a steady, "Alright a name for you...I can only think of plain names like George, Takashi, or John."

Uno screwed his nose sideways, "Huhm, I's don' like any of those."

"I don't either, atrocious really, but it's all I can think of at the moment," Sano closed his eyes to think harder, "I think it's something you'll have to decide for yourself. But, I'll help where I can."

"Okay, thanks a lot Buddy."

A moment of silence passed, the subtle crunch of their feet on dusty gravel filling the mostly empty base, before Sano nasally drawl snaked sideways.

"How about Victor?"

"Nah..."

* * *

><p>"You know what I think?" Jac, sitting on the ledge of a Bevellian bridge, the railing to her back, and legs dangling into space, bit softly down on the bread in her hand, "I think it's weird that everyone used to be so harsh on the High Summoner, but as soon as he defeated Sin everything he did was alright, you know?"<p>

"What are you talking about?" Itgu spat out a dry piece from his mouth, watching it fly over Uno's head and land in the street below the bridge. "He defeated Sin, right? That makes everything okay!"

"Why is everything suddenly okay?" Jac asked, "I mean, before, no one even cared to know his name except when he married that Al Bhed. And people were so mean about it. Like, imagine what it would've been like for his little daughter if she had to grow up with all that trash!"

"The half-breed daughter," Sano rubbed under his chin and leaned farther back into air as he sat on the railing, "She might have it tough. If Bask didn't have it easy I doubt a half-breed woman would fair any better."

"Well, she's the High Summoner's daughter now, that will make it easier." Groto pointed out with a soft smile.

"Oh," Sano nodded briskly, "That should do something, wouldn't it?"

"And anyways, what does it matter if it's a girl or not!" Jac reached through the decorative spaces between the bridge's railing to smash her knuckles into Sano's leg.

"Ow! I'm just saying that not everyone respects women! I'm not saying I'm one of them!" Sano rubbed his leg on the back of the other one, "Look, I grew up in a house ran by my mother alone and a very pushy sister!"

"Right," Groto laid his chin in his hands as he leaned his elbows against his knees, swinging his feet over the ledge. Uno sat beside him and nodded.

"Miz Mia was really...scary sometimes." Uno didn't need reminding to remember how Sano's older sister threw Hoto on his back and knocked him senseless just because he hadn't brought her 'baby' brother as fast as she had wanted him too.

"Ha, right, she was also hot," Itgu bit into the breakfast they decided, with the new found freedom they had now because of Cero, to eat outside in the currently warm weather of Bevelle. The acid-glare that Sano shot his way did nothing to ease the smile on his face.

"Hey!" Sano sneered, "I'll remind you that its my sister you're talking about!"

"So?" Itgu slung his arm around Sano's shoulder, "We could be brothers!"

Sano growled, with no hesitation, "Over my dead body." He was then quick to also add, "And it has to be cold and rotting too."

"You'll never be good enough for anyone like Miss Mia," Jac joined in and haughtily lifted up her chin, "Not in a million years!"

"What'd you say?" Itgu swallowed the insults down then came up with a cool smile, "Oh Jac, does that mean I'm good enough for a tom-boy like you?"

"Guh!" Jac blushed then wiped her face with the back of her sleeve to hide it, "Don't even joke about that, Itgu!"

Groto shook his head and frowned lightly, his crackly voice a little over a whisper as he said, "I just can't believe Jac is a girl, it still throws me."

"Well," Jac shrugged, "I kinda thought I was a boy too, after a while, so it throws me just as much as you. Well, I didn't think I was a boy exactly, but I forgot I was a girl for sure."

"Why'd youse pretend to be a boy anyways?" Uno blinked his round eyes at her, "Youse coulda been in the army as a girl. Just not an assassin and there's no way youse of known what that was!"

Sano narrowed his eyes at Jac's wide ones, "Or did you?"

"U-uno! Did you come up with a name yet?" Jac leaned over Groto slightly to look at Uno down the ledge, "Maybe a really tough name would work so no one would know what a softie you are!"

Uno tightened his mouth, "Youse didn't answer the questi-Sano?" Looked up after his friend above his head clearly stiffened, "Hey buddy whut's wrong-?"

Sano didn't answer. Instead, he leaped over the side of the railing, falling to the street below and landed on his haunches. Uno followed where Sano had his eyes set on and saw six familiar forms strolling down the colorful Bevellian street. They were just approaching a second bridge, plainer than the one they sat on, and Sano was heading straight for them.

"Oh shit!" Groto rare curse was followed by Itgu eagerly hopping down and Jac sliding slowly down the side of the bridge's support beams. Groto joined them in the lower street before looking up at Uno, who was making his way down only to fall and land on his rear below.

Rubbing his backside, Uno got up and shuffled after Sano's quick steps, "Don't worry Sano! I got your's back!"

Borne was the first to notice Sano coming swiftly up, "Oh, if it isn't Hoto's little cry-baby so-nnn!"

Borne swallowed his words as Sano's tightly clenched fist crashed into his teeth. After a crack, and Sano's body following through with the punch, Borne lifted up his leg in anger to slam it into Sano's stomach. Sano twisted and the knee scraped along his side.

Eno blinked, mildly surprised before stepping back from a small pale form flying past him.

Maske screeched, "Son of a bitch!" and aimed his lurch toward Sano, fingers curled with the intention to claw at his face.

Jac's quick fist, happy for revenge as anyone, slammed into his sallow skin and blood exploded from under Maske's nose before he could execute blinding Sano. Shuffling her feet quickly, Jac held up her hands, and taunted, "Well, come on! Come on!"

Sano pushed all his weight into Borne's midsection as he wrapped his arms around it. Running, Sano slammed Borne into the concrete wall beneath the second bridge that Sano had caught them under. Borne let out a cry, his face still slightly open in surprise, before it lowered into a focused hate. He crashed his fist down into Sano's back and kicked his side, pushing Sano away from him. The boy took unbalanced steps away from him, watching Borne wind up for another kick, before firmly planting his feet firmly into the ground again, his hands lifting up to catch Borne's foot. He tightened his grip, and threw the smaller one into the concrete wall again.

"Give me a hand here!" Borne growled at Kilio, who glanced at him, and snarled in reply.

"Help yourself." Kilio lifted his lean hand and struck Itgu down as the boy ran at him. Itgu, remembering his training in this fight, flipped his legs over his head to skid away from Kilio and with a glare, growled at the other.

Groto, with palms flat in front of him, charged Riot and made quick swipes at him. Riot jumped his stumpy body back until he crashed into trash cans discarded under the bridge and fell over them. Riot rolled to his side just as Groto jumped the garbage and slammed a palm into the concrete. Sparks leaped from the crater that formed in the stone, and Riot gasped, before sending a clearly confused look at the timid boy that was intensely focused on his hands. Groto stood again, before muttering under his breath. Riot, who had earlier took it as nervous mumbling, rolled out of the way of a water spell, yelling, "The red-head's a mage!"

He crossed in front of Maske, who was swiftly hopping back away from Jac's madly flying fists, before he jumped out of the way of another water spell that exploded with a splash against the stone.

Maske, with bent fingers to help his natural claws scratch through Jac's skin whenever he managed to do so, screamed at Jac as she dodged the recent attack. With a cocky smile, Jac balled up her fist to swipe into Maske's temple.

Simion crept behind Jac and raised his hands to pick her up. Itgu's foot crashed down into his raised forearm, then he hopped over Simion's body sideways as Kilio, who was in a blind pursuit of the boy, crashed into his side.

"Get off!" Simion pushed Kilio away with a gruff profane insult afterward and the thinner one stood up with a sneer.

Jac roundhouse kicked Maske's face and then turned to Simion, ready to guard her own back once she heard his voice. Itgu tackled Kilio down to the ground and pinned his arm behind his back, pulling it to the nape of his neck. With a grunt, Kilio struggled to pull his arm back down.

Sano twisted into Jac's way when Borne slammed a foot into his collar bone. Catching his footing, he raised up his forearms to block the next kicks that Borne sent his way. Jac sidestepped Sano just as Groto and Riot tumbled, gripping each other's throats, behind Simion who was lifting himself from the ground with gritted teeth and fiery eyes pointed straight at Jac.

**Bang! **

"The fuck?" Itgu looked up from Kilio's back as the rest of them stopped fighting to look in the direction of the shot.

Riot and Groto, still clutching the other's neck, looked at the gun in Uno's hand.

"Yeah!" Uno nervously shook the weapon, "Uhm, uh, don't mess with us!"

"Where the fuck did you get that thing, Uno!" Sano squinted at the black pistol, and recognized it as soon as the owner did, indicated by Kilio's lean hand feeling down his side under Itgu's weight for his holster, now empty.

"Put it down before you accidentally shoot someone!" Sano shouted in warning, "You know you always accidentally fire before you aim!"

The other apprentices stiffened with the words, half learning of this and the other half reminded that this was so _without_ fail.

"I got your back Sano!" Uno reminded him with a quick nod then looked down at the gun, "See? He didn't even noticed when I-"

"Why'd you think to take it in the first place?!" Groto squeaked before his bright green eyes widened when Uno turned to look at him and brought the point of the gun with, "D-dude, just put it down before you have a misfire and accidentally kill somebody!"

"Kilio pulled it out yesterday!" Uno swung his arm around to point at the person he mention, who Itgu was still sitting on.

Itgu cringed and then waved his arms, "Put it away, Mydo!"

Uno hesitated, gun pointed dangerously at an angle that could hit anyone of them, and he looked at all the opposing apprentices faces. They, curiously enough, wore the exact same expression as his friends. They were all uneasily nervous, no longer threateningly angry or ready to fight. Uno peered back down at the gun.

"Come on and put it away, Mydo," Eno lifted his palms up and slowly took a step back, "We were only messing around..."

Uno nodded, his mouth slightly open, "Uh-huh."

Sano narrowed his eyes, "Put it away, moron."

"Oh, okay, but I'm keeping it for the time being in case any of youse guys get's any funny ideas!" Uno announced, lowered his weapon, and nodded. Then, with a flourishing show, he shoved the weapon down the front of his pants like a ruffian. Only, unexpectedly-

**Bang!**

"SHIT!"

Borne immediately took off running and Maske followed suit. Kilio wiggled and freed himself from the surprised Itgu's hands, who was instinctively grabbing his man-hood in his pitying way for Uno, and the lean apprentice took off after the first two. Simion pulled on Eno's shoulder just as Riot bolted past them.

Uno was on the ground writhing and clutching the inside of his leg, Kilio's gun beside him where it had fallen. Uno screamed and growled, "Ugh! Fuck!"

"Uno you dumb-" Sano shook his head and pelted the ground with his legs to reach Uno's side. He bent down and asked, "Are you alright?"

"No!" Uno turned to his side and red blood started to soak the front of his pants.

"Uno shot his boys off!" Groto gripped the sides of his red head in his ghost white hands, "What are we going to do!?"

"Run back and get Captain Nanbu, Groto!" Jac looked over her shoulder and as soon as the order was given, the fastest, most of the time, ran to do what had been asked.

"Uno, Uno," Sano flicked his fingers to get his friends attention, "Look at me!"

"W-whut?" Uno forced his eyes open and with a little bit of spit from the corner of his mouth, gritted his teeth against the pain and asked Sano again, "Whut?"

"Tell me that you didn't actually shoot your..." Sano shook his head, his eyes trailing to the red part of Uno's pants.

"No!" Uno frowned deeply before swearing to Yevon and back, "Man! I'm shot in the leg and bleeding all over the place and the only thing youse can think about is-!"

"Well, you'd had my pity," Sano sighed a bit before watching the writhing that Uno was doing was push a lot of blood from his wound. Sano reached out and pressed his palms into Uno's legs, which by now was actually squirting blood, and yelled over his friend's cries of pain, "Hold still or you might bleed to death, idiot!"

"What's taking Sedevan so long man?" Itgu pressed into the back of Sano's hands after seeing more blood escape between his fingers in huge amounts.

Jac stood up to look, "It hasn't been that long! Wait!"

"Stop touchin' it!" Uno pushed on the hands that caused an even greater hurt from his wound.

"We got to put pressure on it!" Itgu pushed harder on the back of Sano's hands as squirts of blood were still slipping between Sano's fingers.

Uno bawled out a roaring cry and then forced his red stained hands at his sides so he wouldn't get in the way of Itgu's hands and Sano's trying to stop the bleeding, which wasn't really working.

"Shit!" Sano pressed harder when sound started to surround his head.

"What the Hell is taking Sedevan so long!" Itgu was yelling again and Jac yelled back, "Calm down already, he's coming!" Jac raised her voice louder when Itgu was yelling 'yeah right!', "It's not like he's going to stop for something to eat or to tie his boots, Itgu!" Uno was screaming in pain, as was expected, and Sano joined the mass of noise by yelling, "Shut the fuck up!"

"Ow, ow, ow!"

"Ahhh!" Jac suddenly screamed in frustration of it all, gripping the side of her head, before a frantic boy followed by a pony tailed captain finally made it up the rise of colorful Bevellian stone.

* * *

><p><strong>If any of you think this is familiar, that's because I 'stole' the idea of someone shooting themselves in the 'leg' with a gun from the movie 8-mile. I just couldn't help it. I tried to resist it, but I just kept seeing Uno being the kind of idiot to accidentally do the same thing. It's funny, maybe, right? (Why do I like hurting people? Well, at least it's for comedy now, instead of depressingly sad crap...Still though, I'm quite evil. :)<br>**


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